 Binance co-founder clarifies token listing process amid TST controversy 
2025-02-10
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Binance’s co-founder has addressed concerns over the exchange’s token listing criteria following the rapid rise and fall of the Test (TST) token, which briefly reached a $500 million market capitalization.
Most retail cryptocurrency investors allocate capital through centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Binance and Coinbase, with CEX-listed tokens getting significant attention and high investor demand.
The most important criterion for a token listing is its return on investment (ROI), which is calculated by comparing its first-day average price to quarterly performance across other CEXs, Yi He, the co-founder of Binance, told Colin Wu in an interview published on Feb. 10.
Binance’s second benchmark is the project’s ability to bring innovation and new users to the industry that may “evolve into dedicated blockchain users over time.”
The third and final criterion, involving “high-profile projects with significant market buzz and valuations,” examines a token’s market performance on other major exchanges. If a token with a “strong technological appeal and market hype” is “not listed on Binance, we risk losing market share,” He said, adding:
He’s clarifications come shortly after Changpeng Zhao, co-founder and former CEO of Binance, said that “the Binance listing process is a bit broken,” due to the arbitrage opportunities used by decentralized exchange (DEX) traders that led to poor performance shortly after the listing.
DEXs are generally used by advanced traders to spot emerging cryptocurrencies before a CEX listing announcement, which is often used as a short-term buy signal for DEX traders who sell the token once it gets listed, causing significant selling pressure.
Insider trading, internal violation concerns
Binance enforces strict regulatory and internal compliance measures. According to He, Binance’s internal investigations uncovered over 120 cases of misconduct, leading to the dismissal of 60 employees.
However, most violations were unrelated to insider trading. Binance imposes strict restrictions on employees engaging in trading activities, He said. Instead, the most common issues involved accepting bribes or redirecting company wallet addresses to personal accounts.
“We have pursued legal action and filed reports for such cases, which involve both domestic and international jurisdictions,” He noted.
TST token’s rally to near $500 million ignites token listing concerns
Interest in Binance’s token listing criteria was ignited by the Binance-listed TST token, which was picked up by investors as a meme token despite being initially created as part of the BNB Chain’s tutorial.
The TST token temporarily rose to a peak market cap of $489 million on Feb. 9 before falling over 50% to the current $192 million, CoinMarketCap data shows.
The TST token’s name was briefly uncovered for about one second in a BNB Chain tutorial video for its Four.Meme platform, solely for test purposes.
Despite Zhao clarifying that the video was “not an endorsement” of the token, China-based influencer communities started promoting it and driving up its market cap.