Original Title: "Coinbase Launches 'Blue Carpet Plan,' Is Listing BNB the First Step in Competing for CEX Spot Liquidity?"

Original Author: Wenser, Odaily Planet Daily

After Coinbase representative and Base Protocol lead Jesse Pollak ignited the "CEX Listing Fee Debate," in a fiercely competitive market environment and facing increasingly concentrated liquidity, Coinbase, as the "largest exchange in the United States," could not sit still. Last night, Coinbase first responded to market demand by announcing the upcoming listing of BNB; subsequently, it officially announced the launch of the "Blue Carpet Plan," providing a comprehensive set of listing support services free of charge.

With Binance and OKX employing various strategies to attract liquidity, and projects like Hyperliquid and Aster's on-chain Perp DEX following closely behind, traditional cryptocurrency exchanges urgently need to find a new "solution." In this article, Odaily Planet Daily will briefly analyze Coinbase's related actions for readers' reference.

After the Listing Fee Debate, What Does the 'Blue Carpet Plan' Intend to Achieve?

Prior to this, Base Protocol lead Jesse Pollak and many Coinbase representatives revisited the industry's focus topic of "CEX Listing Fees," even going as far as boldly declaring, "I am going to wage war against these CEXs that charge exorbitant listing fees!"

And indeed, he did just that—Jesse subsequently enthusiastically issued a call to action, encouraging cryptocurrency projects to join the "anti-listing fee camp" and promising to help projects list for free on the Base ecosystem DEX Aerodrome or even on Coinbase.

Subsequently, this initiative received a response from CJ, a member of the Base ecosystem prediction market Limitless team, who stated that they recently received a listing fee quote from Binance, which includes:

· A 1% token airdrop on the first day, alpha listing;

· Further 3% token airdrops within 6 months;

· 1% allocated for "marketing," with Binance having full handling rights;

· Providing 100% of TVL (Total Value Locked) for Pancake Swap's token pool, valued at over $1 million.

· $250,000 collateral; 3% allocated to the BNB HODLer program;

· $200,000 worth of tokens provided at a "most favored nation price" to a Binance-affiliated market maker;

· $2 million worth of BNB spot reserved as a listing collateral.

It is worth mentioning that some later pointed out that CJ's disclosure was merely the corresponding standard terms for the Binance Alpha project launch, which are optional terms of "take it or leave it"; in contrast, by not following the confidentiality agreement and leaking the information, it is rather despicable, even though CJ himself emphasized that he did not sign any confidentiality agreement.

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

Now, 2 days later, Coinbase's "Blanket Plan" has been launched. Just as the old saying goes, real business competition is always so down-to-earth, perhaps stemming from what seems like an ordinary and uneventful confrontation.

Compared to the latest version of the "Listing Guide" released on September 10th, the "Blanket Plan" seems more like an "all-in-one listing support service package," including:

· Listing Team Support: Direct access to personalized guidance and quick support 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.

· Referral Services: Obtain discounts on market maker matching and tracking services as well as exclusive discounts supported by the MiCA Whitepaper, helping the project reduce costs and focus on core development.

· Coinbase One Subscription: Provide one year of Coinbase One subscription access for selected core team members.

In other words, this blanket plan is more like a packaged "fast track green channel," allowing projects to submit information conveniently and receive Coinbase's referral services and listing support, along with a one-year Coinbase One membership. Of course, the specific effects are still subject to market validation.

Amidst the squeeze on spot and contract liquidity from competitors such as Binance, OKX, and Hyperliquid in the CEX and DEX realms, Coinbase's move is undoubtedly aimed at attracting high-quality projects through a shorter listing process. However, considering Coinbase's relatively limited user base and buy-side liquidity, it may be difficult to see significant improvement in the short term.

The Listing Fee Debate is Not a First, Listing BNB May Be a Last Resort

Back in November last year, we discussed the topic of CEX listing fees in detail in the article "Is Coinbase Under 'Attack'? Unraveling the Mystery of Exchange Listing Fees." At that time, we made a judgment that "amidst exchanges facing ongoing liquidity challenges and DEX trading volumes hitting new highs, perhaps evolving the listing fee from a 'protection fee unilaterally charged by the exchange' to 'project marketing expenses + community user rewards' is a better development direction."

Now, it seems that Binance's Alpha mode was able to stand out in the CEX platform landscape by achieving such balance and consideration.

Regarding the listing fee inquiry raised by CJ from the Limitless team, Binance co-founder He Yi responded in a targeted manner: she stated that all terms in the contract:

· Margin will be refunded;

· Marketing expenses typically include activities on the Binance platform, content on the Binance Academy, and trading competitions. Binance will provide airdrops, and all activities on the platform will be fully reported to the project party;

· Details of spot and Alpha airdrops will also be provided in detailed reports.

In simple terms, in all transactions of tokens received from the project party, Binance makes every detail transparent and traceable, with most of it being returned to users. Therefore, the notion of "CEX sky-high listing fees" is self-explanatory.

Furthermore, Coinbase's listing of BNB also indirectly reveals the helplessness behind a CEX platform—just as crypto influencer Crypto Veda mentioned in response to Jesse's tweet: The trading volume of meme coins on Coinbase is even lower than on Gate. The listing of crypto projects on Coinbase is more to gain consideration from Upbit and Binance.

Additionally, Jeffy Yu, founder of the previously "struggling" Zerebro project, also appeared in the comments section, stating: "You should talk to your listing team because they require a significant token supply plus a six-figure cash amount for Zerebro's listing." Although his personal credibility score has been reset to zero, the situation he mentioned has indeed garnered recognition from many.

Looking at it now, the Coinbase representative launched a heated discussion on listing fees and introduced the "Blue Carpet Plan" to encourage listings, most likely as a desperate move to compete for market liquidity, similar to how they reluctantly listed BNB.

Conclusion: The CEX Moat Lies Only in Liquidity and Wealth Creation

With the industry's gradual development, CEX liquidity has further been eroded by DEXs, especially by Perp DEX represented by Hyperliquid. Faced with this situation, CEXs like Binance and OKX choose to connect on-chain liquidity by embracing wallet integrations, Alpha listing screenings, Boost channels, and Meme Rushes to discover wealth creation effects. Coinbase, on the other hand, has chosen to leverage ecosystem traffic and liquidity through a one-stop APP Base APP, but the wealth creation effect seems feeble.

It must be said that the battle among CEXs ultimately boils down to a competition for wealth creation effects. Whether Coinbase can keep up remains to be seen, perhaps depending on the results of the Base token issuance to validate it.

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