The Truth About Liquidity: A Research Report on the Coin Listing Effect in Exchanges in 2024

1. Introduction to Research

1.1 Research Background

Since the beginning of this year, the market has sparked widespread discussion about VC tokens with high fully diluted valuations ( FDV ) but low circulating market caps ( MC ). With new tokens issued in 2024, the MC/FDV ratio has dropped to its lowest level in the past three years, indicating that a large number of tokens will be unlocked and enter the market in the future. Although the initial circulation is low, the market may drive prices up in the short term due to increased demand, but this rise lacks sustainability. Once a large number of tokens are unlocked and enter the market, the risk of oversupply increases, and investors begin to worry that this market structure may not provide lasting support for price increases.

As a result, many investors' interest has begun to shift from these VC tokens to Meme coins. The characteristics of Meme coins are that most tokens are fully unlocked at TGE, resulting in a higher circulation rate and no selling pressure from future unlocks. This structure reduces the supply pressure in the market and gives investors more confidence. Many Meme coins have an MC/FDV ratio close to 1 at the time of issuance, which means that holders will not face dilution due to further issuance of tokens, providing a relatively stable market environment. As awareness of the risks of large-scale token unlocks deepens, investor interest has gradually shifted to these coins with higher liquidity and lower inflation rates, even though these tokens may lack practical application scenarios.

In the current market landscape, investors are required to be more cautious in selecting tokens. However, when investors choose tokens, they often find it difficult to independently assess the value and potential of each project. At this point, the filtering mechanism of exchanges becomes crucial. As the "gatekeepers" that directly push token assets to users, centralized exchanges not only help verify the compliance and market potential of tokens but also play a role in filtering high-quality projects. Although there is another voice in the market suggesting that on-chain transactions will surpass CEX transactions, Klein Labs believes that the market share of centralized exchanges will not be taken by on-chain transactions. Factors such as the smoothness of CEX transactions, centralized custodial responsibility for assets, the establishment of user habits and mindsets, barriers to liquidity, and the trend of global regulatory compliance ensure that the trading share in CEX will long and continuously exceed that of on-chain transactions.

So, the question that follows is, how do centralized exchanges filter and decide which projects to list among the many? How has the overall performance of the coins that have been listed in the past year been? Is there any correlation between the performance of these listed tokens and the exchanges they were chosen for?

In order to address these market concerns, this study aims to explore the listing status of various exchanges and analyze its actual impact on the token market performance, focusing on the changes in trading volume and price volatility characteristics after listing, in order to identify the impact of different exchanges on the market performance of coins after they are listed.

1.2 Research Methodology

1.2.1 Research Object

We combine exchanges with regions and market orientation, mainly dividing them into these three categories:

Created by Chinese, aimed at the global market: Binance, Bybit, OKX, Bitget, KuCoin, Gate, etc. These are well-known exchanges mainly founded and invested by Chinese, targeting the global market. There are many Chinese exchanges, and for the sake of research, the selected exchanges have different development characteristics, and the exchanges not selected also have their own advantages.

South Korea created, targeting the local market: Bithumb, UPbit, etc. Mainly aimed at the South Korean local market.

Created in the United States, aimed at Europe and America: Coinbase, Kraken, etc. US exchanges mainly target the European and American markets and are usually subject to strict regulation by the SEC, CFTC, and others.

Exchanges in Latin America, India, Africa, and other regions, due to their trading volume and overall Liquidity being less than 5%, will not be analyzed in depth in this report.

We selected 10 representative exchanges from the above, analyzing their coin listing performance, including the number of coin listing events and their subsequent market impact.

1.2.2 Time Range

Mainly focus on the price changes of the token on the 1st day after the TGE, the previous 7 days, and the previous 30 days, analyzing its trends, volatility patterns, and market reactions for the following reasons:

• On the first day of the TGE, new asset issuance and trading volume are highly active, reflecting the market's immediate acceptance. It is significantly influenced by rush buying and FOMO emotions, which are key stages in the initial pricing of the market.
• The price changes in the first 7 days after the TGE can capture market sentiment towards the new coin in the short term, as well as the initial recognition of the project's fundamentals, measure the sustainability of market heat, and revert to the reasonable initial pricing of the project.
• The first 30 days after the TGE will observe the long-term support of the token, short-term speculation cooling down, speculators gradually exiting, and whether the token price and trading volume are maintained will become an important reference for market recognition.

1.2.3 Data Processing

This study adopts a systematic data processing method to ensure the scientific nature of the analysis. Compared to commonly used research methods on the market, this study is more intuitive, concise, and efficient.

This research report primarily draws data from TradingView, covering the price data of newly listed tokens on major exchanges in 2024, including the initial listing price, market prices at different time points, and trading volume. Due to the large number of sample points, this large-scale data analysis helps reduce the impact of single anomalous data on the overall trend, thereby improving the reliability of the statistical results.

(I)Overview of Multivariable Listing Activities

This study employs multivariate analysis methods, taking into account factors such as market conditions, trading depth, and Liquidity to ensure the comprehensiveness and scientific validity of the results. We compared the average price fluctuations of new coins from different exchanges and conducted an in-depth analysis in conjunction with the market positioning of the exchanges (, such as user base, Liquidity, and coin listing strategies ).

(II)Average value judgment of overall performance

To measure the market performance of the token, we calculated its percentage change relative to the initial listing price (Percentage Change), with the calculation formula as follows:

Percentage Change = (Current Price - Initial Price) / Initial Price * 100%

Considering that extreme situations in the market may affect the overall data trend, we excluded the top 10% and bottom 10% of extreme outliers to reduce the interference of occasional market events (, such as sudden positive news, market manipulation, and liquidity anomalies ) on the statistical results. This approach makes the calculation results more representative and can more accurately reflect the true market performance of new coins on different exchanges. Subsequently, we calculated the average price change of new coins on each exchange to measure the overall performance of new coin markets across different platforms.

(III)Coefficient of Variation Stability Assessment

Coefficient of Variation, CV( is an indicator that measures the relative volatility of data, and its calculation formula is: CV = σ / μ

Where σ is the standard deviation and μ is the mean. The coefficient of variation (CV) is a dimensionless measure that is not affected by the units of the data, making it suitable for comparing the volatility of different datasets. In market analysis, CV is primarily used to measure the relative volatility of prices or returns. In exchange or token price analysis, CV can reflect the relative stability of different markets, providing investors with a basis for risk assessment. Here, the coefficient of variation is used instead of the standard deviation, as it has higher applicability compared to the standard deviation.

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2. Overview of Coin Listing Activities

) 2.1 Comparison Between Exchanges

2.1.1 Number of coins and FDV preference

We found that, from the overall data perspective, top exchanges ### such as Binance, UPbit, and Coinbase ( generally have fewer coins listed compared to other exchanges. This reflects the different positions of exchanges influencing their coin listing styles.

In terms of the number of listed coins, exchanges like Binance, OKX, UPbit, and Coinbase have stricter listing rules, with fewer coins listed but larger scales; on the other hand, exchanges like Gate frequently list new assets, providing more trading opportunities. Data shows that the number of listed coins is roughly negatively correlated with FDV, meaning that exchanges listing more high FDV projects typically list fewer coins.

CEX adopts different strategies to determine the priority of listing coins, focusing on different fully diluted valuations ) FDV ( levels. Here, we categorize based on the project's FDV to better understand the exchange's listing standards. When valuing tokens, we often consider MC and FDV, which together reflect the token's valuation, market scale, and Liquidity.

• MC only calculates the total value of currently circulating tokens, without considering the tokens that will be unlocked in the future, which may lead to an undervaluation of the project's true value, especially when most tokens have not yet been unlocked, which can easily cause misunderstanding.
• FDV is calculated based on the total supply of all tokens, which can more comprehensively reflect the potential valuation of the project, helping investors assess future selling pressure risks and long-term value. For projects with low MC/FDV, the short-term reference significance of FDV is limited, and it is more of a long-term reference.

Therefore, when analyzing newly launched tokens, FDV is more indicative than Market Cap. Here, we choose FDV as the standard.

In addition, from the perspective of attitudes towards initial projects, most exchanges usually adopt a balanced strategy, taking into account both initial and non-initial projects. However, the requirements for non-initial projects are usually higher, as initial projects tend to attract more new users. Moreover, the two Korean exchanges, UPbit and Bithumb, primarily focus on listing non-initial coins. This is because, compared to initial listings, listing non-initial coins can reduce screening risks and avoid the market fluctuations and initial liquidity issues associated with the initial phase. At the same time, for project parties, compared to initial listings, they do not have to bear excessive marketing and liquidity management pressure, as non-initial coin listings can leverage existing market recognition to drive growth.

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) 2.1.2 Track Preference

Binance

In 2024, the number of Meme coins still accounts for the largest proportion. Infra and DeFi projects have a relatively large share. The number of RWA and DePIN tokens listed on Binance is relatively small, but their overall performance is good. Among them, USUAL had the highest spot increase of 7081%. Although Binance is relatively cautious in its listing choices in these areas, once launched, the market response is usually positive. In the second half of the year, Binance's listing preference in the AI sector is clearly inclined towards AI Agent tokens, which have the highest proportion among AI projects.

In 2024, Binance is relatively inclined towards the BNB ecosystem. For example, the launch of projects like BANANA and CGPT indicates that Binance is strengthening its support for its own on-chain ecosystem.

OKX

From the perspective of the number of coins listed on OKX, the number of Meme coins is also the highest, accounting for about 25%. In comparison to other exchanges, there are more coins in the public chain and infrastructure sectors, with a total accounting for as high as 34%. This indicates that, in contrast, OKX is more focused on underlying technological innovation, scalability optimization, and the sustainable development of the blockchain ecosystem in 2024.

In emerging sectors, OKX has only launched 4 types of AI coins, including DMAIL and GPT, has introduced 3 new coins in the RWA sector, and only has 3 types in the DePIN sector. This reflects OKX's relatively cautious layout in emerging sectors.

UPbit

The biggest feature of UPbit's coin listing in 2024 is its wide coverage of tracks, with tokens generally performing well. In 2024, UNI and BNT were launched on the DEX track. This indicates that UPbit still has significant potential and development space for listing popular assets, as many mainstream or high market cap coins have not yet been launched, and there may be further expansion of support in the future. At the same time, this also reflects UPbit's strict review process for coin listings, showing a preference for carefully selecting assets with long-term potential.

On UPbit, the token gains in various sectors are quite prominent. PEPE###Meme(, AGLD)Game(, DRIFT )DeFi (, SAFE )Infra( and other sector tokens have shown significant increases in the short term, with some rising as much as 100% or even over 150%. UNI's gain reached as high as 93.5% when comparing the 30th day after launch to the 1st day. This reflects the high recognition of UPbit's listed projects among Korean users.

In addition, from the perspective of the public chain ecosystem, public chains like Solana and TON are quite popular. We also observe that exchanges are gradually deepening their support for their own blockchain ecosystems. For example, Binance-related BSC and opBNB chains have been continuously strengthening their support for their own on-chain ecosystems. Similarly, Coin