Original | Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )

By Wenser ( @wenser 2010 )

After Coinbase representative and Base Protocol lead Jesse Pollak sparked the "CEX listing fee dispute," facing increasingly concentrated liquidity in a fiercely competitive market, Coinbase, the largest US exchange, has become increasingly concerned. Last night, Coinbase first responded to market calls by announcing the upcoming listing of BNB . Subsequently, it officially launched its "Blue Carpet Program," offering a comprehensive package of free listing support services.

With Binance and OKX employing innovative strategies to attract liquidity, and on-chain Perp DEXs like Hyperliquid and Aster catching up, established cryptocurrency exchanges are urgently seeking new solutions. Odaily Planet Daily will provide a brief analysis of Coinbase's actions for your reference.

After the heated discussion on listing fees, what is the purpose of the “Blue Carpet Project”?

Previously, Base Protocol lead Jesse Pollak and other Coinbase representatives reiterated the industry-focused topic of “CEX listing fees,” even going so far as to declare , “I’m going to war against CEXs that charge exorbitant listing fees!”

And he did it - Jesse then made a high-profile call to encourage crypto project parties to join the "anti-listing fee camp" and promised to help project parties list on the Base ecosystem DEX Aerodrome and even Coinbase for free.

Subsequently, the initiative was responded to by CJ, a member of the Limitless team of the Base ecosystem prediction market. The latter posted that he recently received a quote for listing fees from Binance, which included:

• 1% of tokens will be airdropped on the first day and alpha will be listed;
• A further 3% of tokens will be airdropped within 6 months;
• 1% is used for "marketing", which Binance has full rights to handle;
• Provide 100% of the TVL (over $1 million USD) for Pancake Swap’s token pool;
• $250,000 bond;
• 3% is reserved for the BNB HODLer program;
• $200,000 worth of tokens were offered to Binance-affiliated market makers at the “most favored nation price”;
• $2 million worth of BNB spot as listing margin.

It's worth noting that some later pointed out that CJ's disclosures were merely standard terms for the Binance Alpha project launch, an optional clause that allowed "accept and play together, otherwise, no big deal." On the contrary, his failure to comply with confidentiality regulations and leaking relevant information was truly despicable, despite CJ's insistence that he had not signed any confidentiality agreement.

Jesse also expressed his support for this tweet, reiterating that the CEX listing fee should be 0.

Two days later, Coinbase's "Blue Carpet Project" has been launched. True to the old saying, true business battles are always so plain and simple, perhaps even originating from a seemingly ordinary quarrel.

Compared to the latest version of the “Coin Listing Guide” released on September 10, the “Blue Carpet Plan” is more like a “package of coin listing support services” similar to SaaS software, which includes:

• Listing Team Support: Get personalized guidance and expedited support directly from the Coinbase listing team, bypassing the “black box” of other listing processes.
• Asset Page Customization: Update the project's asset page on Coinbase (CEX) and Coinbase Retail DEX to ensure accurate information.
• Recommended Services: Get discounts on market maker matching and tracking services, as well as exclusive discounts on MiCA whitepaper support, helping projects reduce costs and focus on core development.
• Coinbase One Subscription: One year of Coinbase One subscription for selected core team members.

In other words, the Blue Carpet Program is more like a packaged "fast track" that allows project owners to submit information and receive recommendations and listing support from Coinbase, along with a one-year Coinbase One membership. However, its effectiveness remains to be seen in the market.

With spot and futures liquidity squeezed by competitors focused on CEX and DEX, such as Binance, OKX, and Hyperliquid, Coinbase's move is undoubtedly intended to attract high-quality projects by shortening the listing process. However, given Coinbase's limited user base and buy liquidity, significant improvements are unlikely in the short term.

The dispute over listing fees is not new, and listing BNB may be a move of necessity.

Last November, we discussed the topic of CEX listing fees in detail in the article "Is Coinbase Under Siege? Uncovering the Unsolved Mystery of Exchange Listing Fees. " At that time, we concluded that, "With exchange liquidity facing ongoing challenges and DEX trading volumes reaching record highs, perhaps a better path forward would be to gradually evolve listing fees from a unilateral protection fee levied by exchanges to a combination of project marketing expenses and community user rewards."

It now seems that the reason why Binance Alpha model stands out among the CEX platform functions is that it has achieved balance and consideration in this regard.

Regarding the aforementioned question about listing fees raised by Limitless team member CJ, Binance co-founder He Yi also responded specifically: She stated that all the terms in the contract:

• The deposit will be returned;
• Marketing expenses are usually spent on Binance Square, Academy content, trading competitions, airdrops, and all on-site activities are fully reported to the project owners.
• Detailed reports will also be provided for spot and Alpha airdrop details.

Simply put, Binance maintains a detailed and traceable record of all tokens it receives from project owners, with the majority returned to users. This debunks the myth of "expensive CEX listing fees."

Coinbase's listing of BNB also indirectly highlights the frustrations of the CEX platform. As crypto influencer Crypto Wei Tuo noted in the comments section of Jesse's tweet , "Coinbase's altcoin trading volume is even lower than Gate." Crypto projects listing on Coinbase are primarily motivated by the desire to secure listings on Upbit and Binance.

In addition, Jeffy Yu, the founder of the Zerebro project who had previously "faked his death to survive", also appeared in the comment section and said : "You should talk to your listing team because they require a considerable token supply plus a six-digit cash for Zerebro's listing." Although his personal credibility score has been reset to zero, the situation he described did receive a lot of likes and recognition from people.

Now, it seems that the representatives of Coinbase initiated a major discussion on listing fees and launched the "Blue Carpet Plan" to encourage coin listings. This is most likely a helpless move to compete for market liquidity, just like the fact that they had to hold their noses to list BNB.

Conclusion: CEX’s moat lies only in liquidity and wealth creation effect

As the industry evolves, CEX liquidity is increasingly being eroded by DEXs, particularly Perp DEXs like Hyperliquid. Faced with this situation, CEXs like Binance and OKX are leveraging on-chain liquidity through wallet portals, Alpha coin screening, Boost channels, and Meme Rush to tap into the wealth effect. Coinbase, on the other hand, is leveraging its one-stop app, Base, to leverage ecosystem traffic and liquidity, but the wealth creation effect has been lackluster.

It's undeniable that the CEX competition ultimately comes down to a battle for wealth creation. Whether Coinbase can catch up will likely depend on the success of its coin offering.