The CEO of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, has proposed reevaluating the company’s asset listing process in response to the rapid surge in new token creations.
In a January 24 post on X, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong discussed the challenges posed by the exponential growth of new tokens entering the market. “We need to rethink our listing process at Coinbase, given there are ~1 million tokens a week being created now, and growing,” Armstrong wrote. He acknowledged that manually evaluating each token had become impractical and called for regulators to adopt a more flexible, practical approach.
“It needs to move from an allow list to a block list and utilize customer reviews and automated scans of onchain data to help customers sift through,” he added.
Coinbase’s Current Listing Process
At present, Coinbase’s listing process involves a multi-step approach, which includes an initial review, due diligence, and regulatory compliance checks. However, the sheer volume of tokens entering the market has made this process increasingly difficult to manage.
Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, criticized Coinbase’s listing policies, particularly its handling of TRX, one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, which has been under review for seven years without being listed. Sun argued that the delay reflects Coinbase’s lack of fairness and judgment when it comes to new listings.
“This has nothing to do with TRX itself but rather reflects Coinbase’s loss of the most basic fairness and industry judgment when it comes to new listings,” Sun wrote on X in response to Armstrong’s tweet.
In a previous claim from November 4, Sun alleged that Coinbase demanded a $330 million fee to list TRX, including 500 million TRX tokens — valued at $80 million at the time — plus a $250 million Bitcoin deposit to be held in Coinbase Custody.
Suggestions for Improving the Listing Process
Crypto influencer Ansem, who remains pseudonymous, suggested that Coinbase should hire someone with hands-on industry experience to help streamline token evaluations. “They can tell you the 10 out of 1 million tokens that need to be listed as soon as possible. This is an easily fixable problem,” Ansem said.
Armstrong also revealed plans for Coinbase to deepen its integration with decentralized exchanges (DEXs). He envisions a future where users “shouldn’t need to know or care whether the trade is happening on a DEX or CEX [centralized exchange].”
This announcement comes amid expectations for more favorable crypto regulation under President Donald Trump’s new administration. Armstrong noted the significant impact of the administration on the crypto industry during his time at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which concluded on January 24.
“Basically every conversation I had with major market leaders was focused on what the Trump Admin planned to do on crypto,” Armstrong said in a separate post on X.
What The Author Thinks
Coinbase’s proposal to rethink its token listing process is a step in the right direction, but it’s clear that a more transparent and efficient system is long overdue. With the increasing volume of tokens being created, it’s crucial that Coinbase, along with regulators, adopt a smarter, more automated approach to ensure quality control while allowing for more flexibility in token evaluation. However, the company must also ensure that this doesn’t lead to favoritism or the prioritization of financial incentives over fairness. A better balance between speed, fairness, and due diligence is needed to maintain trust and credibility in the industry.
Featured image credit: TechCrunch via Flickr
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