Coinbase hit with $300M token listing allegations by Sun, Cronje


From cointelegraph by Zoltan Vardai 

Some of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges allegedly ask for hundreds of millions of dollars for new token listings.

According to Tron founder Justin Sun, Coinbase asked for $330 million in total fees to list Tron TRX$0.1622. Sun posted on X on Nov. 4 saying that while Binance did not charge any fees, Coinbase requested 500 million TRX tokens (valued at around $80 million) and a $250 million Bitcoin deposit to be held in Coinbase Custody.

  Coinbase listing fee allegations. Source: Justin Sun

While Sun’s comments may lack evidence, they come as a surprising development, considering that Coinbase claims to charge no fees for listing new cryptocurrencies.

“Asset listings on Coinbase are free,” Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong wrote in a Nov. 2 X post.

  Asset listings are free. Source: Brian Armstrong

Binance and Coinbase are among the world’s most popular centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs). Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange, controlling over 39.5% of the total spot crypto trading volume. Coinbase is the world’s sixth-largest exchange, controlling over 6.1% of the market share, CoinGecko data shows.

Cointelegraph has approached Coinbase and Binance for comment but received no replies by time of publishing.

Related: Binance founder CZ sees positive shift in crypto regulation worldwide 

Fantom token listing allegedly costs up to $300 million — Andre Cronje

Tron founder Sun was not the only crypto personality who made claims about token listing fees.

Andre Cronje, founder of the Fantom Network, posted that Coinbase had proposed various listing fees for Fantom FTM$0.569, ranging from $30 million to as high as $300 million. Cronje responded to Armstrong’s post, “Binance charged us $0. Coinbase has asked us for; $300 million, $50 million, $30 million, and more recently $60 million.”