CEX is caught in the MEME gold rush, is traffic the priority or is value anchoring supreme?

Author: Nancy, PANews

Amid the generally weak and powerless narratives in the crypto space, MEME has undoubtedly become the largest traffic hub in this bull market, with major exchanges using this sector as one of the means to leverage traffic and win community reputation. Recently, leading exchange Binance faced community skepticism and criticism after listing multiple MEME coins in quick succession, making the choice between following hot trends or adhering to narrative value the biggest point of contention.

Exchanges Intensify the MEME Case Sensitivity Debate

The crypto market is caught in a liquidity crisis, with MEME emerging as a white knight to save the market, showcasing strong market performance. According to crypto analyst arndxt, only 42 projects have outperformed Bitcoin this year, with 11 of the top 15 being MEME coins.

The current MEME explosion stems from the community's dissatisfaction and resistance to the VC coin model, fulfilling the public's imagination of fair issuance and grassroots atmosphere, which has forced exchanges like Binance to change their listing logic.

Taking Binance as an example, in just one month, it has listed several MEME projects such as BRETT, DOGS, POPCAT, NEIRO, HMSTR, and Neiro for spot and contract trading, even launching three MEME projects in one day, covering areas like Base, TON, and Ethereum. This also indirectly confirms that Solana is losing its dominant position in the MEME sector.

Influenced by the exchanges' listings, these MEME coins have seen significant price surges. For instance, Neiro's market cap skyrocketed from tens of millions to over $300 million after its announcement on Binance.

However, alongside the immense wealth effect, the collective listing of MEME coins by exchanges has also sparked considerable controversy. On one hand, there is the debate over the case sensitivity of MEME names. For example, the listing of the uppercase NEIRO contract by Binance and OKX led to a rapid price surge for the project, which raised dissatisfaction among the lowercase Neiro community due to concerns over insider trading issues, prompting the community to question the value philosophy of exchanges.

In response, Binance co-founder He Yi stated, "Regarding the uppercase vs. lowercase Neiro debate, it is also due to community criticism that we are reflecting more on what constitutes a good MEME. If the essence of the MEME community is another 'GameStop', where the tokens are highly concentrated and the price has been pumped, is that still a MEME? Or is it a Ponzi scheme dressed in MEME clothing? Therefore, we have listed several relatively decentralized projects, and many of the initial screening projects fell short in compliance review and token concentration."

Crypto KOL @neso explained this case sensitivity phenomenon, stating that the various uppercase and punctuation coins recently emerging are, in terms of market cap and holder scale, just a small part of the meme coin landscape and are characteristics of temporary hot coins, not representative of the mainstream, let alone the entirety. There are still many quality MEME projects with strong community consensus that Binance and OKX have not paid attention to. Perhaps due to interests or review standards, or perhaps they are trapped in some information bubble. In the long run, MEME coins that focus on cultural dissemination, brand building, and community cultivation will ultimately have the opportunity to succeed and transcend cycles.

High-Frequency MEME Listings Guiding Market Trends? Exchange Listing Logic Under Scrutiny

On the other hand, the high-frequency listing of MEME coins by exchanges, including Binance, has also drawn external criticism for influencing market trends.

"MemeCoins are largely more like gambling products. While one of the natural attributes of crypto is to stimulate dopamine secretion, MEME can do this better. But if most industry builders are creating such things, and even leading exchanges tend to provide greater stimulation space for Memecoins, the crypto industry will gradually turn into a gambling den. Of course, many projects outside of MEME also have issues, such as excessively high valuations and stories that cannot create value, leading the market to appear lively but lacking good options," crypto KOL 土澳大狮兄broLeon admitted.

@neso believes that MEME coins have changed significantly from the last cycle and are entering a 2.0 phase. He hopes that CEXs can deeply observe and understand these changes and continue to promote the development of the sector, rather than merely viewing it as a tool for traffic generation and creating hotspots. Otherwise, their influence in the MEME coin space may continue to diminish.

In fact, OKX CEO Star has also questioned the original intention of exchanges listing tokens, asking what the purpose of listing is. Some token projects, after being listed on exchanges, only engage in releasing, reducing, and harvesting users, and exchanges should not become accomplices to such projects. With no current regulations on listings and reductions, how can this market be protected? This is a matter worth reflecting on for the entire industry.

In response to this, He Yi outlined Binance's basic framework and process for listing coins, stating that Binance's project listings mainly fall into three categories: Listing projects that users need: As a trading platform, it cannot just be what Binance thinks is good; it must be what users think is good; Listing projects that last long: The price of tokens is determined not by Binance, but by the token model, circulation, buying, and selling. High-valuation projects with top teams naturally attract many market makers willing to strategize for them to maintain high market caps, and many exchanges flock to them, especially with the rise of DEXs brought by AMM, making it possible to operate without a trading platform. However, it is undeniable that while other projects rise and fall, these projects last longer and have more opportunities; Listing projects with business logic: Whether Web2 or Web3, the essence of entrepreneurship is to create what the world needs. We prefer projects with solid business models and revenue, and we hope for reliable teams with entrepreneurial potential who can take responsibility. We also hope that your valuation is not too high and can accommodate community growth, and we want you to empower the tokens because if you stand with users, your users will stand with you.

"The dilemmas reflected behind Binance's listings may also be the huge bottlenecks and confusion faced by the current market. It seems that no one knows where the next innovation will come from," crypto KOL qinbafrank believes that the current crypto market may have shifted from a 'de-pegged' to a 'no peg' state, where past history no longer holds reference significance, and the future direction is shrouded in great confusion. We should explore how the industry can transition from 'de-pegged' to 'no peg' and seek a new 'peg', identifying which attempts are more valuable and meaningful. The search for a new 'peg' in the crypto market is likely to be more arduous and tortuous than in the US stock market, with issues like value-less wheel reinvention, inflated valuations pushed up by the primary market, unreasonable issuance structures with low circulation and high FDV, and indiscriminate dumping by project parties leading to the current market's bleakness, which is also the crux of the problem. Addressing these issues step by step may not yield all desired outcomes, but it is also a necessary path for correcting mistakes and seeking a new 'peg', restoring order.