As the cryptocurrency industry grows, users are increasingly seeking out newer and more obscure coins and tokens.
Traders understand that lesser-known assets offer more risk, and therefore more chance of large profits to be made.
As developers of coins know of this trend, they try to encourage it by getting their assets listed on as many exchanges as possible, but unfortunately this is no easy task.
Most exchanges charge a substantial fee for coins and tokens to be listed. This fee can sometimes be over $1 million. This measure prevents small-time developers from being added as they simply cannot afford it.
When this happens, it forces traders to seek out hidden gems by going to other, less reputable, sources.
This behaviour punishes everybody in the industry, including traders, developers, and fans. It is exploitative and unfair.
While not much is currently being done to regulate this action, there are some companies which entirely avoid the practice of overcharging for listings.
For starters, decentralized exchanges such as EtherDelta and Radar Relay are known to list just about any Ethereum token they can get their hands on.
This greatly helps out fans and traders. While many people tend to avoid decentralized exchanges, it cannot be denied that they have made major improvements in the last few years.
It is doubtful that it will take long before they match their centralized counterparts in terms of quality and service.
One of the major problems with decentralized exchanges is that they are notorious for having low liquidity. Centralized exchanges solve this problem by having generally healthier ecosystems, as well as by regulating the use of malicious trading bots.
The fact that decentralized exchanges offer a place for obscure tokens to be listed is great, but for now they almost all exclusively list Ethereum tokens.
Actual coins or tokens running on other blockchains cannot utilize them at all. For that reason, we need centralized exchanges to change their practices. One exchange which is a trend setter in this matter is Dubai-based RightBTC.
The exchange from Dubai is launching a system which will allow coins and tokens to get listed free of charge. Users will vote on which coins they want listed, and the winner will get added to the site. Unlike how voting works on infrastructures like EOS, each user will only be able to have one vote.
This reduces the probability of vote rigging taking place, making it fairer. The fact that votes are used to decide who gets listed additionally ensures that there will be enough liquidity in the market, as every voter would likely also be interested in trading with it.
This is clearly a step in the right direction, but until ideas like this are embraced by other, larger, exchanges it won’t be enough to make a difference.
At least, right now, there are alternatives such as RightBTC and Radar Relay which users can rely on for finding more obscure coins and tokens.