CZ’s comments were made after the dramatic rise and fall of the TST token, which surged after a brief mention in a BNB Chain tutorial. Meanwhile, a Solana-based meme coin that is allegedly endorsed by the Central African Republic’s president faced scrutiny after AI tools flagged the announcement video as potentially fake. The total number of crypto tokens on CoinMarketCap is also very close to hitting 11 million. This rapid expansion caused serious concerns about market saturation. Changpeng Zhao Questions Binance Listing Model Changpeng Zhao, co-founder and former CEO of Binance, shared some of his concerns about the flaws in the crypto exchange's token listing process, and called for improvements in how centralized exchanges handle new listings. Tokens that secure a listing on major centralized exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, or Kraken often experience a surge in demand as they gain access to larger liquidity. However, Zhao pointed out that the current process is very problematic, mainly due to the short time frame between announcement and listing. Zhao noticed that Binance's approach involves announcing a new listing and then executing it within four hours. During this period, tokens often see a sharp increase in price on decentralized exchanges as traders rush to buy before the centralized listing, only to sell once it goes live on the CEX. This usually results in heightened volatility and increased selling pressure, which can negatively impact investors who buy at more inflated prices. His comments were made in the wake of Binance listing the Test (TST) token, which initially served as part of a BNB Chain tutorial but was quickly embraced by investors as a meme token. The token briefly soared to a peak market cap of close to $489 million before plummeting by over 50%, according to CoinMarketCap data . The surge was fueled in part by a brief appearance of the token’s name in a BNB Chain tutorial video, which China-based influencer communities began promoting. This price jump happened despite Zhao’s clarification that the video was not an endorsement. TST market cap over the past 24 hours (Source: CoinMarketCap ) After the unexpected rise of the TST token, Zhao suggested that CEX listing procedures should evolve to become more like decentralized exchanges, which allow for automatic token listings. He proposed that centralized exchanges should list ”almost everything automatically,” similar to how DEXs operate, though he acknowledged that he is no longer involved in Binance’s decision-making process. The discussion around CEX listing inefficiencies is happening at a time when concerns over token performance post-listing have been growing. In fact, a report from May of 2024 revealed that more than 80% of tokens listed on Binance lost value within just six months of their debut. On the bright side, the emergence of decentralized fair-launch tokens like Hyperliquid's HYPE token, could help the industry make a big change. The HYPE token’s launch bypassed centralized venues entirely, instead being priced fairly by the crypto community through its native protocol on its own Layer 1 blockchain. This method, according to Composability Labs co-founder and CEO Vitali Dervoed, is the start of a new era for on-chain token launches that reduces reliance on centralized exchanges and their listing mechanisms. Meme Coin Announcement Raises Red Flags The recent launch of a meme coin that is purportedly endorsed by the Central African Republic (CAR) caused a lot of controversy after deepfake AI detectors flagged a video of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra announcing the project as potentially manipulated. The token debuted on the Solana-based Pump.fun launchpad, and surged to a market cap of $530 million on Feb. 9. The president’s official X account introduced the meme coin as an “experiment” that is aimed at boosting national development and elevating the country’s global profile. The project’s website also features a video statement attributed to Touadéra, alongside details of the token’s supply distribution. However, AI analysis tools cast doubt on the authenticity of the video. Deepware , a popular deepfake detection platform, flagged the video as suspicious, while another model estimated an 82% probability that it was manipulated. Despite these concerns, two other detection models, Avatrify and Deepware’s proprietary checker, did not detect any signs of tampering, which only added to the uncertainty surrounding the token. (Source: Deepware ) Skepticism about the token’s origins intensified when cybersecurity experts and blockchain analysts questioned the circumstances surrounding its launch. Some community members speculated that the president’s X account may have been compromised, which led to concerns that the project could be a sophisticated scam. Blockchain researcher Yokai Ryujin pointed out that the token’s domain was registered through Namecheap just three days prior, which is an unusual move for a national initiative. In response, Namecheap stated that they suspended the ”abusive service,” but the token’s official website was still operational. Doubts were further raised by the peculiarities of the announcement. Critics specifically pointed out the odd timing of the tweet, which was posted around midnight local time, and noticed that it was written exclusively in English despite French being the country’s official language. Additionally, X suspended the account associated with the meme coin. The launch of the token also took place during a wave of cyberattacks targeting high-profile figures and platforms in the crypto space. Scammers recently hijacked the X accounts of the former Malaysian prime minister and the Solana-based decentralized exchange aggregator Jupiter to promote fraudulent meme coins. Crypto Token Count Nears 11 Million The total number of unique crypto tokens and coins listed on CoinMarketCap is approaching 11 million. This surge in newly issued digital assets throughout 2024 and early 2025 was primarily driven by meme coins launched on the Solana network, which have contributed to an unprecedented flood of new tokens entering the market. Some analysts argue that the rise of meme coins redirected investor attention away from tech-focused altcoins, diminishing the speculative premium that these projects once enjoyed. This rapid expansion also raised some serious concerns among traders and industry experts about the long-term effects of millions of new tokens competing for limited investor mindshare in an already saturated market. Market analyst Ali Martinez recently suggested that the sheer volume of tokens in circulation will make it very difficult for an altcoin season to materialize. He estimates that more than 36 million altcoins now exist, which is a dramatic increase from the fewer than 3,000 that was seen during the 2018 cycle and the fewer than 500 present in 2013-2014. According to Martinez, the crypto market fundamentally changed due to this massive supply of digital assets. The overwhelming number of new tokens also prompted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to reconsider the exchange’s listing process . Armstrong is worried about the challenge posed by the rapid rate of token creation, and pointed out that around one million tokens are being launched every week. He stated that evaluating each token on an individual basis is no longer feasible and called for regulators to allow exchanges to adopt a more efficient and streamlined approach to token listings. Dan Novaes, co-founder of EARN’M, a platform that rewards users for screen time, believes that 2025 will be a year of consolidation for the crypto industry. He pointed out that the market is suffering from excessive tokenization and predicted that the industry will see a wave of project mergers and token consolidations as development teams pool their resources to drive growth.
