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New Crypto Token Listings Surpass Last Year’s Total
Another sign that cryptocurrencies are back in fashion is that new tokens I was listed on the main digital resources exchanges in the first half of this year compared to all of 2023. On higher volume trades, including Binance AND LossCoin listings have risen a cumulative 11.6% to 2,066 in the first six months of the year, according to an analysis of select exchanges by CCData for Bloomberg. Among a handful of low-volume exchanges, including CoinJar and BTC Markets, listings have risen nearly 32% to 488, the researcher found.
The tally comes from so-called centralized exchanges like Binance or Coinbase Global that hold custody of users’ assets. The figure does not include the flood of memecoins inspired by internet memes or trends that are traded on decentralized exchanges like Uniswap that allow users to maintain control over their assets. More than a million memecoins have already been issued this year.
The rise in listings on centralized exchanges has been driven by this year’s rally in cryptocurrency prices, led by market Bitcoin surges by more than 50%. Expectations for more regulatory The leeway has been boosted by the US approval of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs this year, along with growing speculation that Donald Trump will be more crypto-friendly if elected president in November.
“I am optimistic that the shift in political and regulatory stance toward cryptocurrencies will begin to drive positive change,” said Cosmo Jiang, a portfolio manager at digital resource Pantera Capital. “In particular, I hope that with increasing regulatory clarity, tokens with real value tied to strong fundamentals will stand out, and those with no real value like memecoins will lose out.”
Startups have also started launching tokens again, from memecoins to gaming coins, as a way to fund operations or expand community support. This is a big change from 2022, when cryptocurrency markets tanked following a series of scandals and failures like the collapse of the FTX exchange.
The peak of new listings on centralized exchanges is likely still lower than in 2021, according to researcher Kaiko. Listings fell more than 50% in 2022 and fell another 20% last year, Kaiko said.
Bybit, which has seen increasing trading volume and market share, has been the most prolific lister among high-volume exchanges, with its listings up 83% since the start of 2023, CCData found. Coinbase has been the most conservative, with its listings up 8.2% over the same period, CCData said.
“We’ve had a mixed bag so far this year, with Binance listing less aggressively than before, but other exchanges ramping up new listings,” said Dessislava Aubert, senior analyst at Kaiko. “As a result, the overall number of listings has increased since the start of the rally, but not as fast as in previous cycles.”
New tokens typically help boost spot trading activity. Bybit’s trading volume in June was 33% higher than in December, according to CCData. Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, saw its trading volume decline slightly over the same period.
Binance settled charges with the U.S. Department of Justice and several other agencies in November, agreeing to a $4.3 billion fine. It has since tightened listing requirements and made it harder for projects and market makers to work with the exchange.
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