Binance Co-Founder CZ Criticizes CEX Token Listing Process, Calls It 'Broken'

Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, widely known as CZ, has shared his thoughts about the recent listing of the Test Token (TST) on Binance

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao has shared his thoughts on the recent Test Token (TST) listing on Binance, revealing that it was not personally endorsed and was part of a broader narrative around meme coins in 2024.

When asked about the logic behind TST's listing on Binance, CZ explained in his post on X that exchanges typically list coins based on popularity and demand, rather than any direct involvement in the listing process itself. “Exchanges compete to list popular coins as early as possible,” he said, adding that projects with high trading volume are naturally prioritized.

“For example, if a coin has already been listed on decentralized exchanges and has a lot of demand, centralized exchanges will try to get it listed as soon嗽s possible,” CZ noted.

TST was created as part of a BNB Chain walkthrough tutorial on how to create a meme coin on the Four.Meme launchpad platform on BNB Chain. On Feb. 9, TST's market cap soared to nearly $489 million before dropping to about $170 million at the last check, according to Coinmarketcap.

In a series of tweets, CZ clarified the circumstances behind TST's listing, emphasizing that it was never intended to be an endorsement of the token itself. “TST was not endorsed by me or Binance. It was simply a test token used for a video tutorial,” he stated, adding that every clarification post just made TST go more viral.

Later on, he also critiqued the token listing process on centralized exchanges, calling it “a bit broken.” He elaborated on the issue of a short time gap between an announcement of a new listing and the actual listing itself, which is usually just a few hours.

According to CZ, this brief notice period causes significant price fluctuations, with tokens often seeing a spike in value on decentralized exchanges after the announcement. Traders, who are actively monitoring DEXs, then sell the token on centralized exchanges once it gets listed, leading to immediate selling pressure.

To address this issue, Zhao suggested that centralized exchanges could adopt a more automatic listing approach, similar to how tokens are listed on decentralized exchanges. He proposed that exchanges could list almost any token automatically, with the community deciding which tokens are the most interesting.