Why Are 70% of ICOs Never Listed on Cryptocurrency Exchanges?

S.Ateljevic image
· 03 Jul 2018

Cryptocurrencies are the hottest thing right now, but what if we told you many of them don’t even make it to the market? Around 70% of crypto coins don’t even see the light of day. Certainly, that’s something to think about when you’re playing at your favorite gambling sites that accept Ethereum or Bitcoin.

But the question is, why are 70% of ICOs never listed, and, probably, never will be?

There is one definite answer to that question – it’s too expensive. To list your tokens on an exchange, you need to pay a fee between $100.000 and $3 million. Such exorbitant prices are too much for companies; especially the ones whose ICOs didn’t do well. You see, exchanges don’t have interest in tokens that didn’t sell well, as they are probably never going to achieve a liquid state. Plus, when they are, they impose these fees, because the process of token listing can be long and arduous.

However, the fees themselves might be justified. After all, fraudulent ICOs have duped exchanges plenty of times in the past. This is why they tend to test all tokens thoroughly to prove that they are not frauds. Listing a fraudulent currency has a terrible effect on an exchanges’ reputation. That’s why they take their time and perform extensive security checks. In fact, listing a single currency can take up to 21 days. However, that’s not the only problem with ICOs. Token exchanges are spooked easily, and they can sometimes abruptly pump and dump a currency over rumours that it’s a scam.

So, is listing a currency worth it?

Well, it’s hard to tell. As we’ve said, listing prices are very high. This can set a company back quite a bit, and if their ICO fails, the fee can ruin them. Perhaps it’s best to wait until the project is complete before taking it to the exchange. However, by then, it can be too late.