Boomberg: The number of coins listed on major exchanges has exceeded last year’s total

Author: Olga Kharif, Boomberg; Compiler: Wuzhu, Golden Finance

Exchanges with large trading volumes (including tokens)

According to an analysis of selected exchanges conducted by CCData for Bloomberg, the number of token listings in the first six months of this year on exchanges with large trading volumes such as Binance and Bybit increased by 11.6% to 2,066.On exchanges with lower trading volumes such as CoinJar and BTC Markets, the number of listings increased by nearly 32% to 488, the researchers found.

This figure comes from so-called centralized exchanges such as Binance or Coinbase Global Inc., which are responsible for custody of users' assets. This figure does not include a large number of memecoins inspired by Internet memes or trends, which are traded on decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap, allowing users to control their own assets. More than 1 million memecoins have been issued this year.

Token listings surge on exchanges with high trading volume

Tracking listings on selected centralized exchanges

A surge in listings on centralized exchanges has been driven by rising cryptocurrency prices this year, with market leader Bitcoin up more than 50%. The approval of bitcoin and ethereum ETFs in the U.S. this year, as well as growing speculation that Donald Trump would adopt friendlier crypto policies if elected president in November, have bolstered expectations of loosening regulation. "I am optimistic that shifting political and regulatory stances on crypto will begin to drive positive change," said Cosmo Jiang, portfolio manager at digital asset firm Pantera Capital. "Specifically, I expect that as regulatory clarity improves, tokens with real value tied to strong fundamentals will stand out, while those without real value, such as memecoins, will fall by the wayside." Startups are also starting to issue tokens again, from memecoins to tokens for gaming, as a way to finance operations or expand community support. That's a sharp change from 2022, when the cryptocurrency market collapsed after a series of scandals and bankruptcies, such as the collapse of the FTX exchange.

The surge in new listings on centralized exchanges is likely to remain lower than in 2021, said researcher Kaiko. Listings fell more than 50% in 2022 and another 20% last year, Kaiko said.

Among exchanges with larger trading volumes, Bybit has seen a surge in volume and market share and the most listings, with an 83% increase in listings since the beginning of 2023, CCData found. Coinbase was the most conservative, with an 8.2% increase in listings over the same period, CCData said.

“We’ve had a mixed bag so far this year, with Binance not listing as aggressively as before, but other platforms are stepping up their listing pace,” said Dessislava Aubert, senior analyst at Kaiko. “So, since the rally started, there’s been an overall increase in listings, but not as fast as in previous cycles.”

New tokens often help increase spot trading activity. Bybit’s volume in June was 33% higher than in December, according to CCData. Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, saw its volume fall slightly over the same period.

In November, Binance reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and several other agencies and agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine. Binance has since tightened its listing requirements, making it more difficult for projects and market makers to work with the exchange.