Coinbase execs to convene on Thursday to clarify why it cannot list certain tokens ‘as a regulated exchange’

Earlier today, Coinbase executives Jesse Pollak and Paul Grewal took to X (formerly Twitter) to address one of the subjects that have brought major backlash on the exchange — the perceived arbitrariness of its token listing criteria. 

According to their X posts, both executives are aware of the frustrations builders feel with being unable to list on the exchange. They also implied that they are working on a plan to make things better, which they promised to share in a meeting that is expected to hold on Thursday over X. 

Coinbase is North America’s leading crypto exchange, but it has faced recent backlash from users for different reasons affecting their experience, including resolving Solana network transactions. 

Coinbase executives on why they can’t list tokens as they please 

According to Paul Grewal, “the coinbase listings team wants to list any and every token that lifts up builders, no matter what chain it’s on.” 

The only thing stopping them is the fact that they are a regulated exchange, which means there is a distinction between what they want to list and what they are allowed to list by law. 

As a regulated exchange, Coinbase must comply with SEC regulations, which prohibit it from listing digital assets the regulator deems as securities.

“I know that’s not always clear, and frustrates many of you as much as it frustrates us,” Grewal added before mentioning the upcoming meeting. 

Grewal and Pollak want everyone to know that the team understands the lack of clarity and frustration and are committed to making the process better.

One of the most vocal dissenters of Coinbase’s listing practices is Tron’s Justin Sun. The long-running episode came to a head when Coinbase delisted BitGlobal’s wBTC because of its association with Justin Sun, who the exchange considers a “risk.” 

Meanwhile, Sun insists the exchange delisted wBTC because it wanted to promote its own cbBTC. 

What Coinbase’s co-founder said about listing tokens 

Brian Armstrong, the co-founder of Coinbase, also acknowledged the listing dilemma the company faces. 

On the one hand, as a regulated exchange, Coinbase must comply with SEC regulations, which restrict it from listing certain digital assets deemed as securities.

On the other hand, the exchange struggles with the listing process as it tries to determine what to list and what not to list without violating any regulatory requirements. 

In a recent tweet, Armstrong expressed a desire to rethink the exchange’s listing process, given that more than one million tokens are being created in a week now. 

“High quality problem to have, but evaluating each one by one is no longer feasible,” he wrote. “And regulators need to understand that applying for approval for each one is totally infeasible at this point as well (they can’t do 1m a week).”

Armstrong suggested that regulation needs to move from “an allow list to a block list, and utilize customer reviews/automated scans of onchain data etc to help customers sift through.”

“That and we’ll continue integrating native DEX support more deeply. Customers shouldn’t need to know or care whether the trade is happening on a DEX or CEX,” he added. 

With Donald Trump in power and a crypto-friendly SEC in place, it makes sense that Coinbase is also gearing up for a supercycle. Part of its plan could be to relax the listing criteria as more regulatory clarity shackles are removed. 

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