Binance attacks fraudulent listing agents with $5 million reward for whistleblowers

Binance has banned listing agents amid the exchange’s ongoing crackdown on scams and fraud. The exchange also announced a $5 million incentive for any reliable tip that identifies these malicious parties.

Binance, the world’s largest centralized crypto exchange by trading volume, released a detailed update on its token listing process on Wednesday. The exchange announced it had banned third-party listing agents to minimize fraudulent token listing activities on its platform. 

Binance urges projects to avoid listing agents and use official listing channels

Binance explained that all projects intending to list on its platforms should apply directly through its official channels, tailored to the different stages and needs of the projects.

These channels include Binance Alpha, a pre-listing token selection platform that focuses on discovering early-stage crypto projects within the Web3 ecosystem. The exchange said that this platform will offer Pre-Token Generation Events (Pre-TGE), Prime Sale Pre-TGEs, Token Generation Events (TGE), Alpha Airdrops, and community engagement programs.

Binance Futures is also among the exchange’s official listing channels. According to the announcement, users can utilize the platform to get access to liquidity and hedge their positions.

The announcement identified Binance Spot as the exchange’s third listing channel that allows users to buy, sell, and hold high-quality crypto assets. 

The exchange’s listing measures come amid an ongoing crackdown on the increased scams around token listings.

According to the notice, the malpractices originate from fraudsters purporting to be insiders or its connected facilitators, who promise guaranteed listings on the exchange while demanding facilitation fees. The exchange highlighted that these claims are usually false and misleading. The announcement also explained that token listings are free and the exchange does not charge for the service.

The crypto exchange also published its formal listing framework. It encouraged projects to report claims made by any representative outside its official application channels in exchange for monetary rewards totaling $5 million. The crypto exchange cautioned that projects using listing agents will be disqualified and blacklisted. 

Binance blacklists multiple parties for offering listing services 

According to the announcement, Binance concluded an internal audit and has blacklisted various individuals and entities. These parties include Central Research, May/Dannie, Andrew Lee, BitABC, Suki Yang, Fiona Lee, and Kenny Z. The exchange noted that the blacklisted parties falsely implied to have close ties with the exchange and pledged to pursue legal action against them where appropriate.

The crypto exchange said it had “received reports about certain individuals and entities falsely claiming to be ‘Binance listing agents’ or offering to secure token listings on Binance in exchange for payment.” The exchange urged projects to “exercise caution and remember that Binance does not authorize anyone to offer such services.”

Data from RootData, a Web3 investment research organization, shows that Central Research (one of the blacklisted parties) has been involved with several crypto projects, including Nebula Revelation, Fireverse, AKI Network, Artyfact, and Fusionist. Fusionist (ACE) currently trades on Binance.

However, the exchange did not relate the blacklisted entities to any crypto project that has already been listed on the exchange.

The news comes after the exchange suspended an employee for allegations of insider trading following the release of a newly announced crypto token that raised suspicions. Binance stated that its internal audit department conducted an investigation, which revealed that one of its employees promoted a new listing using official channels before the token was issued on-chain. 

Binance also banned more than 600 accounts linked to the use of unauthorized third-party tools on its listing platforms. A previous Cryptopolitan report, dated October 19, highlighted that the exchange’s move stemmed from increased usage of automated bots and scripts specifically designed to gain an unfair advantage over real users, particularly in Alpha and other features.

The exchange also urged market participants conducting trading and investing activities through its platforms to report similar malicious activities, so that appropriate measures can be taken. 

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