Justin Sun and Andre Cronje challenge Coinbase’s listing fee transparency claims

Tron Network founder Justin Sun and Sonic Labs co-founder Andre Cronje have disputed Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong‘s claim that the US-based trading platform provides free asset listings.

On Nov. 4, Sun revealed that Coinbase allegedly demanded a payment of 500 million TRX, valued at around $80 million, for listing TRX, Tron’s native token. However, he highlighted that Binance, in contrast, did not charge anything for listing the asset.

Additionally, he stated that Coinbase requested a $250 million Bitcoin deposit into Coinbase Custody, reportedly to boost liquidity. Sun clarified that, while he respects Coinbase, its listing process is not without significant costs.

Sun’s claims supported Cronje, who first shared that Coinbase had approached his team with multiple listing fee requests ranging between $30 million and $300 million.

Cronje stated:

“Binance charged us $0. Coinbase has asked us for; $300m, $50m, $30m, and more recently $60m. Lots of respect. But this is simply not true.”

Community defends Coinbase

Sun and Cronje’s claims prompted crypto community members to rally to defend Coinbase.

Greg Osuri, founder of Akash Network, stated that Coinbase did not charge any fees for listing his project. Similarly, Haider Rafique, the Chief Market Officer at OKX, supported Coinbase’s transparency, saying it doesn’t impose listing fees.

Moonwell DeFi contributor Luke Youngblood added his perspective, explaining that Coinbase occasionally runs educational campaigns through its Earn platform, which may involve marketing costs.

He clarified that this fee could be misconstrued as a listing charge, particularly since non-US exchanges often ask for a “marketing budget” that resembles a listing fee. Youngblood stated:

“I can see how Andre might have made an honest mistake assuming a Coinbase Earn campaign was required for a listing. It is definitely not required and is a completely different part of Coinbase that is unrelated to listings.

In other words, whether you sponsor an Earn campaign has no relation to your ability to get a Coinbase listing.”

Binance alleged listing fee

These discussions emerged over the weekend after crypto community members discussed listing fees on major crypto trading platforms like Binance.

On Oct. 31, Moonrock Capital CEO Simon Dedic alleged that Binance asked for 15% of a project’s total token supply, potentially amounting to $50 million to $100 million for some projects. He argued that such high costs negatively impact market stability and liquidity, especially for emerging projects.

Binance co-founder He Yi swiftly dismissed Dedic’s claim as unfounded and FUD. She explained that while some projects might offer funds or token shares, they still must meet Binance’s rigorous listing requirements.

Yi stated that Binance does not automatically list tokens, even if they provide an airdrop or express interest in partnering through Binance’s Web3 wallet.

She added:

“FUD will never go away, but it makes us stronger. Gossip is easy to get traffic, and business competition is always full of dark sides; When you understand the rules of how the world works, you will no longer be easily swayed by rumors, and you will have the ability to think independently.”

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