Coinbase evaluates cryptocurrencies (referred to as digital assets) for listing through a free, merit-based process that applies consistent standards across legal, compliance, technical security, and business dimensions to ensure customer protection, market integrity, and regulatory adherence. The process involves submitting an application, undergoing reviews, and, if approved, a phased launch, with timelines varying from hours to months based on asset complexity, submission completeness, and market factors.
How to Apply for Listing
To request a listing, project teams must fill out an online questionnaire on Coinbase's listings page (https://www.coinbase.com/listings), providing comprehensive details about the asset. Required information includes:
- The asset's purpose and use case.
- Technology details, such as source code links, block explorers, and third-party audits.
- Team background and history of key contributors.
- Tokenomics (e.g., distribution, governance rights).
- Whitepapers and other public documentation, ensuring clear, factual statements without speculative claims.
Applications are reviewed by Coinbase's Digital Asset Support Group (DASG), which votes on listings after initial assessments. Incomplete submissions, unclear risk disclosures, or major project changes during review can cause delays. Listed assets undergo ongoing monitoring to maintain standards.
Evaluation Standards and Criteria
Assets must pass core reviews and business assessments. Here's a breakdown:
Legal Standards
- The asset must not be classified as a security in relevant jurisdictions, avoiding risks of securities transactions.
- Compliance with regional regulations, which may affect availability in certain markets.
Compliance and Risk Mitigation Standards
- Examination of token distribution and on-chain activity for risks related to financial crimes or consumer safety.
- Minimal centralized control in the protocol to reduce security vulnerabilities.
Technical Security Standards
- Review of contract code, design, and operational risks.
- For new blockchains: Assessment of technical design, consensus mechanism, network resilience, and governance model.
- Supported token types include ERC-20 on networks like Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, and Polygon, as well as SPL and ARC-20 tokens; native blockchains or other types require additional integration resources, which can extend timelines.
Business and Prioritization Criteria
Business evaluations use quantitative and qualitative signals to gauge demand and viability. Key factors include:
| Category | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Market Demand | Trading volume, market capitalization, anticipated liquidity. |
| Traction and Community | Number of token holders, active wallets, total value locked (TVL), on-chain activity, social media sentiment and behavior. |
| Team and Distribution | Track record of contributors, token distribution methods. |
| Technical Integration | Ease of integration; expedited for established networks like Ethereum, Base, Solana, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, or Avalanche. |
For pre-launch assets, a separate set of business criteria applies to determine review eligibility. Overall due diligence typically takes about one week, with trading enabled within two weeks of approval.
Phased Market Launch
Approved assets roll out in phases to build liquidity safely:
- Transfer Only: Users can deposit the asset.
- Auction: Limit orders are collected for at least 10 minutes to set an opening price.
- Trading State: Progresses to limit-only trading, then full trading if liquidity, order book depth, and volatility metrics are healthy; otherwise, trading may halt.
Teams should ensure timely responses during the process and monitor updates via @CoinbaseMarkets on X. For the full list of supported assets, check Coinbase's exchange pages.
Until this crowd is willing to trade sufficient volume to create worthwhile fees for the exchange they won't list us.
How much hive did you trade today?
How many daily users are actively trading the internal market?
These numbers are entirely too small to attract big money speculation.
Either our coders build our way out of this conundrum, or we stew in these doldrums, forever.
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