Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao: projects can refuse to pay listing fees

Binance’s founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao stated that crypto projects are not under any obligation to pay listing fees. Decentralized projects have other alternatives for trading infrastructure, not only CEX listings. 

The founder of Binance Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said that crypto projects are under no obligation to pay listing fees, even those requested by exchanges. Good projects could try to branch out on their own, as exchanges list them based on merit, he added. 

Zhao responded to the latest drama around Binance listings after the crypto community made allegations about the exchange’s process of listing new tokens. Based on recent reports, Binance requested up to 10% of the token supply as a listing fee.

Binance has been in the crosshairs before, accused of asking high prices to list new coins and tokens. According to Zhao, centralized listings are not the only path for crypto projects. 

Unpopular opinion post:

On Listing "Fees" (saw this a few times recently)

1. If you are a project complaining about listing airdrops or "fees" (to users),

Don't pay it.

If your project is strong, exchanges will race to list your coin.

If you have to beg an exchange to list,… https://t.co/DtEMb4RdS0

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 15, 2025

Zhao explained that exchanges have different approaches to listings, from adding every new token to carefully curating assets, while asking for airdrops and additional guarantees.

Zhao responded to the recent tweet by the founder of Limitless, CJ Hetherington. Since then, other projects have reiterated that Binance has similar requirements, requesting payments and airdrops throughout the listing process.

Binance has been selected as the go-to exchange due to its outsized liquidity and exposure. Most newly listed projects also perform airdrops to BNB holders, meaning all BNB whales end up with sizeable allocations from new projects, in addition to the listing fees. 

The paid listings also open a discussion on another problem for Binance – some of the newly listed tokens often crash soon after the listing or depend heavily on market makers.

Hyperliquid boasts of a process with no listing fees

The renewed discussion around Binance listings brought forward Hyperliquid’s approach. The perp DEX carries spot tokens, each of them listed only by paying HYPE gas fees. 

On Hyperliquid, there is no listing fee, no listing department, and no gatekeepers.

Spot deployment on Hyperliquid is permissionless. Anyone can deploy a spot asset by paying a gas fee in HYPE. Deployers can choose to receive up to 50% of trading fees on their spot pairs.…

— Hyperliquid (@HyperliquidX) October 15, 2025

Hyperliquid was in favor of newly launched decentralized projects having a completely permissionless listing process. 

The perp DEX also gives exposure to high-liquidity traders, though not at the same level as centralized markets. Additionally, Hyperliquid has shown problems with smaller liquidity pools. However, the DEX still offers opportunities for self-listed pairs, and recently, even builder-deployed perp DEX markets. 

Will Binance lose its top position? 

During the 2025 bull market, Binance and its decentralized ecosystem expanded and gained additional importance. PancakeSwap was also posting peak volumes, as some of the Binance Alpha tokens provided liquidity on their DEX pair to boost trading. 

The recent wave of liquidations, which affected specifically Binance-listed assets, once again underscored the issue of listing risky tokens for profit. 

The discussion on token donations and additional listing fees, even for Binance Alpha tokens, further hurt the reputation of Binance. 

However, for others, the listing fees are simply a part of the crypto business model, and some market operators will always request various forms of payment.