Binance Enforces Strict Rules for Listings and Partnerships

One of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, announced rules concerning the confidentiality of coins to be listed on the platform. Their official Medium post was accompanied by a previous statement from CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao. The announcement came after a heated Twitter debate with CyClean, a project claiming the exchange didn’t follow up in time on an agreement they had.

Before we take a look at the recent controversy, let’s comment on the rules themselves. The key rule, from which all the others stem, is that teams shouldn’t announce their future listing on Binance. This is only in force until the exchange makes the first publication on the given deal. The seriousness of this principle is underlined by the following clarification:

“If any information about a potential listing or partnership leaks out beforehand, we will put the listing or partnership on hold; possibly indefinitely.”

The rest of the points mentioned basically reiterate this in various ways. Users are warned to treat as false all claims not verified by the exchange. Special attention is also brought to a “Binance Application in Progress logo”, which is the only company logo partners are allowed to use, albeit only after they have received it through official channels.

When it comes to communication with the exchange, the application form is also highlighted again. This is repeatedly mentioned as the only way a new coin gets to the exchange (not through personal contacts with individual representatives.)

Today’s Twitter controversy featured CyClean, a project stating it has a contract with Binance. According to their tweet, the platform missed the date at which the coin was supposed to be listed (CCL). We don’t want to get into the whole debate, as it is a bit unclear and the allegations are rather hard to prove.

If we disregard today’s situation, looking at the rules from a free and fair market perspective, they make a lot of sense. The Binance name itself is so powerful that it can cause euphoria on other markets before the coin in question reaches the popular exchange. While it seems appropriate for projects to advertise their affiliation with the platform, doing so falsely, with the sole purpose of creating hype, is misleading for investors. That being said, this isn’t the only problem in the cryptocurrency space – scam ICOs and pump-and-dump groups quickly come to mind.