You know you’ve made it once your token lists on a major exchange and gets bought and sold with ease worldwide. That’s how critical getting listed on a crypto exchange is. Exchanges, after all, create official trading pairs, making it easy for traders to find your token and buy and sell it for fiat, stablecoins, or other cryptocurrencies.

Here’s the catch: getting listed on a top-tier crypto exchange can be a long and tedious process. It requires a lot of legwork, coordination, relationship management, and a strong marketing plan to make your project stand out from the rest of the competition. If you’re looking to get your token listed, this article will guide you through the process.

Why get listed?

Before we go any further, let’s discuss the main reasons why any crypto project worth its salt needs to get listed on a proper exchange. Unfortunately, many projects do not see the value of a proper listing, with founders just happy to see their token is trading somewhere. Getting listed on a major exchange, however, opens your token up for serious growth and the following benefits:

Enable access to trading, buying, and selling your token

Listing on a major exchange opens your token to a variety of trading opportunities. Your token will gain the visibility it needs to gain traction with new and existing investors, giving them a chance to buy and sell the token and your project to benefit.

Access to new markets and potential for further community growth

Every exchange is its own community with their own principles and regional audiences. Listing on exchanges means your token can gain access to liquidity in these new markets and their respective communities, giving it a boost in trading volume. While other exchanges operate worldwide and boast a global clientele, some exchanges cater to specific regions and markets (e.g. Asia, Europe, Latin America). Therefore, listing could open up possibilities for your token to gain visibility and establish itself in certain regions and their communities, which is essential for growth.

Improved liquidity for token sales

Let’s shoot straight: project founders are often the largest holders of a newly-launched token. These tokens typically lack the necessary liquidity to expand and develop further, but founders don’t always have to launch an ICO to be more liquid. In some cases, it’s not possible. That’s where a successful listing comes in—-with a successful listing and access to more liquidity, founders can trade the token to develop the project as long as it doesn’t ditch its obligations to its community and contradict its financial model.

Enter into partnerships worldwide

New listings enable projects to enter new markets—including the opportunity to enter into partnerships with players into said new markets. Likewise, getting listed makes your project more visible for others to find you and negotiate collaborations with.

Social proof

One of the major intangibles associated with getting listed on a reputable exchange is the social proof—and trust factor—it brings to your project.

Challenges of listing on an exchange

Getting an exchange listing can be a lot like winning the lottery. However, navigating through the quagmire of different listing processes and the hassle of negotiating with a litany of representatives can get tedious. Here’s what you should expect when you try to get your token listed:

Exorbitant listing fees

Each crypto exchange charges specific listing fees that could vary wildly based on market conditions. From flat fees to dynamic fees, listing could eat a significant portion of your project’s budget and token supply. Here are some factors that could affect listing fees on exchanges:

Prevailing market conditions. When the market is bullish, listing demand skyrockets through the roof, driving up listing fees upwards of $100,000.
Hype/popularity surrounding the project. Exchanges favor projects with established developer and user communities as well as a strong track record. Lesser-known projects could be charged higher fees to cover the potential risk.

Strong relationships with industry figures

Getting support from key industry players and fostering strong connections with them can boost your token’s listing chances immensely, as is receiving an endorsement or investment from an existing exchange.

Running applications on multiple exchanges at the same time

While exchanges are highly competitive to get a project’s business when it comes to listing, the process of getting your token approved for listing can take a long time. Therefore, it’s important to apply for listing on multiple exchanges simultaneously to improve your chances of getting listed as soon as possible. Getting listed also gives you additional leverage when negotiating with competing exchanges.

Making a strong first impression

Exchanges are constantly sifting through a boatload of applications; that often means having to wait in a lengthy queue. If you want to skip the queue, your project needs to make a strong first impression to distinguish itself from the rest of the competition. This means having a competent dev team, a unique value proposition, and a strong user base.

Different processes for different exchanges

Every exchange has their specific listing process, and it’s often opaque and kept in secrecy. The variance between listing processes can be a problem for project teams, making it hard to comply with differing requirements or forecast their chances of getting approved.

Increasing regulations

US and Europe-based exchanges are increasingly discerning with what projects they list due to the tightening regulations and potential legal risks of crypto. This contributes to further delays and unclear listing processes.

Proliferation of coin listing scams

Unfortunately, scams do exist wherein unscrupulous parties posing as coin listing agents reach out to founders using Discord or Telegram, exhorting teams to send money or crypto in advance for helping their project get listed on crypto exchanges. Working with agents of dubious origin could give threat actors access to your project’s wallets and funds, which they could drain using malware.

Or they can just steal your “listing fees”.

How do you prepare for an exchange listing application?

Getting listed on a top-tier reputable cryptocurrency exchange is one of the biggest milestones for a crypto project. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to prepare for a token listing:

Step 1: Establish strong project fundamentals

Establishing strong fundamentals starts with the following steps:

Creating a strong whitepaper. Your whitepaper is the foundation of your project outlining its vision, tokenomics, roadmap, technology, and team. Clearly outline your token’s utility and value proposition, lay out the tokenomics, supply, and distribution, as well as how new tokens will be issued. It has to provide all-encompassing technical information required by prospective investors to make a decision..
Foster and engage a strong community. By keeping your user base constantly informed with regular updates and engaging them on social media verticals. An engaged community indicates that your token could generate revenue for an exchange based on the interest and volume you drum up.
Build a product. Projects with a minimum viable product or prototype they can show to users and investors have a better shot at getting listed.
Prepare legal and compliance docs. Liaise with legal counsel to secure the necessary legal and compliance documents, such as a legal opinion and investor documentation stating the last funding round valuation or expected valuation at the ICO.

Step 2: Establish credibility and trust

Establishing credibility is a major factor in a successful token exchange listing.

Raise venture capital funding. Solicit funding from top-tier crypto funds and exchanges. Doing so helps boost your project’s visibility, trickling down to your team, community, and product. Exchanges want to see you have sufficient long-term backing to succeed.
Get independent audits. Getting the green light from technical and smart contract audits from reputable firms ensures your product and its smart contracts are bulletproof and free from exploitable vulnerabilities.
Harden your security posture. Nothing can tarnish a project’s reputation more than security incidents. Implement industry-leading security standards to safeguard funds on your platform before listing.

Step 3: Foster strong relationships with exchanges

Next, you’ll want to build bridges with exchanges and trading firms. Narrow down your search to exchanges that closely align with your target audience and markets, with a good reputation for listing top-tier projects. Evaluate the requirements and fees for each. Compile the necessary documentation such as your whitepaper, legal documents, and audit reports in preparation for listing. Teaming up with trading firms will also give your token the liquidity and markets it needs in its early days to overcome the initial low liquidity and high volatility levels.

Step 4: Submit applications to target exchanges

Next, it’s time to submit applications to your target exchanges. As mentioned earlier, each exchange has specific guidelines to qualify for listing, which you will be expected to comply with in order to get a successful listing. Be prepared to engage in discussions and negotiate with exchange representatives.

Most of them require the following:

Team information
Legal documents
Whitepaper
Tokenomics
Proof of traction (e.g. community stats, number of users, sales figures, total value locked, etc)
Marketing strategy
Minimum viable product that you can demonstrate to users and investors
Non-disclosure agreements pertaining to listing processes
Due diligence requests
Integration with exchanges

It’s also worth mentioning that exchanges could set unique criteria that involve you to integrate their native token or launch on their blockchain network. Binance, for instance, requires projects to incorporate its native token BNB and/or using it to solicit funds during your fundraising phase.

Step 5: Marketing Campaign for Exchange Users

Finally, you’ll need to formulate a comprehensive marketing plan to promote your token across all necessary verticals. This includes leveraging social media platforms, influencer marketing, content marketing, and a public relations push to generate hype. Likewise, you should consider teaming up with exchanges to join promotional activities for their users, such as airdrops, AMA sessions, and competitions to boost your project’s visibility and draw fresh investment.

Working with a listing Agency

Once you’ve successfully listed on your chosen exchange, and once you attain a respectable trading volume, it’s time to think about expanding to listings on other exchanges. While other projects may be listed on several exchanges simultaneously, it isn’t the right strategy for every project.

This is where working with a trustworthy coin listing service comes in. Houdini Swap, the leading privacy-focused liquidity aggregator enabling private swap, send, and bridge transactions for 4,000 tokens and over 8 million pairs can help you evaluate your project’s position vis-a-vis the market situation and give you the most effective strategy moving forward.

Here’s why you should pair up with Houdini Swap to get your coin listed on top-tier exchanges, including on its liquidity aggregator platform that has seen over $600 million in trade volume in just over a year since launching:

Expert assistance in getting listed. As a leading privacy-focused liquidity aggregator with a sterling track record in the industry, Houdini Swap’s listing service will help you get listed on exchanges best suited to your goals, budget, and requirements, and leverage its industry-wide connections to help you get the best possible deal on a trustworthy, legitimate exchange.
Protect your project from scams. Houdini Swap works directly with the key players of its network of exchanges, guaranteeing a safe, secure, and private token exchange listing experience devoid of the risk of running into scams, privacy issues, or unscrupulous employees.
Assistance in developing a post-listing activity plan. Houdini Swap’s support doesn’t end once you’ve successfully listed—-any listing service worth its salt will help you develop a post-listing plan to maintain its listing on a top-tier exchange. This includes marketing/public relations, market making, and community building efforts.

List your token on Houdini Swap today

Houdini Swap is not just a leader in privacy-focused swaps; it’s also the go-to platform for getting your coin listed where it matters most. By listing on Houdini Swap, you’ll tap into a vast community and over $1 billion in swap volume, giving your project the visibility and credibility it deserves.

Unlike other services, we focus exclusively on providing unparalleled access to our platform—ensuring that your coin benefits from robust privacy, competitive trading volumes, and direct access to a growing network of committed users.

Unlock unparalleled access to token buyers across the entire crypto-verse by listing your coin with Houdini Swap. From BTC, ETH, SOL, and TRON to over 4,000+ tokens on 80 chains, Houdini Swap stands as the market leader in compliant, non-custodial, cross-chain liquidity aggregation, equipped with exceptional privacy features.

Join the ranks of projects that have benefited from our platform, with over $1.5 billion in cumulative volume processed and annualized volume nearing $1 billion. Houdini Swap is the simplest, most reliable, and safest way to achieve cross-chain liquidity.

Get Listed On Houdini Swap – Submit your application here!