Why do high-quality projects prefer to list on cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States?

Original Title: 《Why Reputable Project Teams List Their Tokens First On U.S.-Based Crypto Exchanges》

Author: Dan Kim, Vice President of Business Development and Token Listings at Coinbase

Translated by: Hailsman, ChainCatcher

Check out 《Around the Block: Episode 41》 for a lively discussion on the importance of new token listings and whether the U.S. is losing the battle for crypto innovation.

Tokens from well-known projects like Ethereum, Polygon, Aave, Optimism, and Near have been listed on Coinbase. In addition, many other projects, including Uniswap, Compound, and The Graph, have chosen Coinbase as their first exchange for token listings.

Coinbase is the Most Trusted Cryptocurrency Exchange

For over a decade, Coinbase has been committed to becoming the world's safest and most compliant cryptocurrency exchange. Today, as a publicly traded company headquartered in the U.S. and listed on the Nasdaq stock market, Coinbase is trusted by 108 million retail and institutional customers who buy, sell, and trade over 230 tokens, all of which have been vetted for security and legality by our team. Coinbase operates this way in over 100 countries.

Our reputation as the safest and easiest-to-use exchange has earned us the trust of major companies across industries, from banking and insurance to sports and entertainment. This is why crypto projects like Uniswap and ENS Domains choose to list their tokens on Coinbase while utilizing our institutional-grade solutions, such as custody, staking, and other premium services.

However, before the collapse of FTX, several project teams expressed concerns about listing on U.S. exchanges like Coinbase, stating that choosing exchanges that operate in their own way felt safer than collaborating with lawmakers and regulators who help protect consumer safety. This is simply not true.

While there are many platforms to buy and sell tokens, U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges provide the safest, smoothest, and most secure environment for project teams and customers to engage in the crypto economy.

Here are three main reasons why more projects choose to list on Coinbase rather than other exchanges.

Security

Projects choose to list on Coinbase because they value our world-class security measures. Coinbase will never engage in unethical practices, such as transferring customer deposits without permission.

As a regulated exchange, we must hold 100% of user funds. In fact, every quarter, we review our financial records with independent board members and auditors and share this information with the public—there's nothing to hide.

Coinbase does not engage in market making or proprietary trading; we focus solely on protecting our customers and their assets from intentional or unintentional harm.

Support

Coinbase's listing requirements can be quite stringent. That’s why we hire the best talent to assist project teams through the listing process, and we even help projects that are already listed on Coinbase to remain compliant with all rules and regulations.

Listing on a cryptocurrency exchange is a significant milestone for many project teams, and it may not be difficult in some exchanges that do not prioritize trust.

This is why reputable crypto projects want their tokens to be listed on reputable crypto platforms. They know that U.S.-based exchanges like Coinbase prioritize consumer protection through the right types of policies, and we have the best relationships with regulators around the world.

Trading Scale

Coinbase also offers the deepest liquidity pools of any regulated spot exchange. We have established strong relationships with all leading market makers to serve 108 million verified users across over 100 countries.

Coinbase also provides programs to help project teams promote to users. For example, millions of users who are new to the crypto space rely on Coinbase for project information; for instance, protocol foundations rely on our Earn product to reward Coinbase users with tokens for learning more about the project, while decentralized applications are leveraging our learn-and-earn program to incentivize Coinbase users to complete on-chain tasks, such as DEX trading, minting NFTs, or playing web3 games.

Our learn-and-earn program also helps achieve decentralized token ownership. By providing project teams the opportunity to grant tokens to millions of verified Coinbase users worldwide, these users can choose to learn about the project and join the community, experiencing the technology that makes it all possible.

We Want to Make Cryptocurrency Safer

From the beginning, Coinbase has decided to be the most trusted company in the crypto space. We are committed to working with regulators rather than avoiding them. This is the best way for us to build products and solutions that make the crypto economy a safer place for everyone, everywhere.

Additionally, Coinbase does not list securities for safety reasons. Unlike the tokens we list, securities fall under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our Chief Legal Officer recently discussed this issue in a blog:

"Coinbase has a rigorous process for analyzing and reviewing each digital asset before it is listed on our exchange, and the SEC itself has reviewed this process. This process includes analyzing whether an asset can be considered a security, as well as considering the asset's regulatory compliance and information security aspects. To be clear, most of the assets we review do not end up being listed on Coinbase."

We Are Here to Help You

If you are running a project and have questions about listing on Coinbase, please reach out to us. We have experienced professionals ready to help you understand what is needed to list on Coinbase and work with your team through every step of the process.

We even continue to assist project teams after their tokens are successfully listed: in the event of unexpected incidents, such as regulators requesting information on how we determine that tokens are not securities, we are here to help—just as you have seen in our support following the Tornado Cash lawsuit and the Crypto Action Network, Coinbase is committed to helping drive the crypto economy forward in the safest, simplest, and most inclusive way possible.