BABB’s view on exchanges
A run-down of the exchange landscape & BABB’s place within it
It’s high time we talked about exchanges.
But first: a quick recap of the two months since the end of the token sale on 20 February 2018.
- Tokens were distributed on 8 March and almost immediately available on IDEX, with ForkDelta and now DDEX not far behind
- BAX was integrated on Bancor as a RelayToken and activated on 13 March
- We released the first of our official fortnightly updates on 20 March, followed by regular news about the bank license application and product development and other progress
- We have been observing the market and speaking at length with various exchanges
We appreciate that there has been limited information available regarding our plans for exchange listings, and we’re grateful for your understanding. We would now like to share some more details with you about our approach to exchanges and the reasoning behind it.
How to get listed on an exchange
A word about the process of enlisting on exchanges.
Getting on most exchanges (other than decentralised exchanges, some of which BAX has already been listed on with no involvement from the BABB team) requires a combination of two or more of the following activities:
- Paying premium fees, plus “skip the queue” fees
- Negotiating with the exchange to agree the deal
- Securing a “winning” proportion of votes from users (for example, to make it onto Bit-Z requires at least 20,000 Bit-Z users to put all 50 of their votes against your token)
The spanner in the works is that exchanges are experiencing massive demand from both companies wanting to enlist tokens and users wanting to register on the platform. They’re also dealing with cybersecurity issues and navigating a regulatory minefield.
Exchanges are coping with a lot at the moment, which means they’re not always very responsive. It can take months to get listed unless you pay a “skip the queue” fee — but you may pay the extra fee and then not get listed, so there’s a risk involved.
When Binance?
We want BAX to be visible and liquid to give people the ability to buy the token easily, including newcomers to the project who want in along with those who bought BAX in the token sale.
We’re not averse to paying the premium fees to be listed on a popular exchange, but we are extremely cautious about fluffing these chances by going for them at the wrong time.
Our approach is to take our time, put the work in, and get it right.
We take this view because:
- BAX trading volume is increasing all the time. Our chances of getting listed are better if we give the volume more time to keep increasing. Higher volume gives us a better leverage and a higher likelihood of being listed.
- Our community is one of our main priorities and we always seek to act in the interests of our token holders. This means our instinct is to adopt a cautious approach as the landscape takes shape.
- Centralised exchanges are getting hit hard by regulators at the moment and the future is uncertain. As a result of this volatile regulatory environment, the policies of different exchanges are unpredictable and liable to change. We want to see how this pans out.
- We are still in the groundwork phase of our project and this time-consuming, behind-the-scenes work doesn’t always lend itself to flashy announcements. We would rather enlist once our progress is more visible.
- If we go for a listing and miss it, it’s bad for our reputation and the token. It also reduces our chances of getting listed in the future. You only get one shot at most of the big exchanges so it’s better to take your time and get it right.
So, what’s our plan?
We are currently working on delivering the BABB project and developing the visibility and volume of the BAX token. This will give us the best chance of being listed on bigger exchanges in due course.
We will update you as soon as we have news to share regarding new exchange listings. Most exchanges do not allow information to be circulated ahead of time, and to do so would jeopardise the deal and would have legal implications.
Executing this plan to get BAX ever more visible is one of our main priorities, along with obtaining a UK banking license, forming international partnerships, and launching the product.
Achieving these objectives is in everyone’s best interest and we’re very grateful for your support and understanding as we work towards these goals.
