Crypto ‘uninvestable’ if exchanges ignore manipulation: DeFiance CEO

Only 3 out of 27 tokens listed in Binance in 2025 are in the green. Source: Miles Deutscher
A crypto investment executive said the biggest problem with digital asset markets is price manipulation, claiming that collusion between market makers and exchanges distorts token prices.
Arthur Cheong, founder of crypto investment firm DeFiance Capital, said in an X post that market makers and crypto projects work together to create artificial prices that can be sustained for long periods. Cheong wrote:
“You don’t know whether the price is a result of organic demand & supply or simply due to projects and market makers colluding to fix the price to achieve other objectives.”
He added that if the industry’s players don’t step up and improve the situation, a big part of the crypto market will remain “uninvestable for the foreseeable future.”
Cheong said it was strange that centralized exchanges (CEXs) are “turning an absolute blind eye” to the issue. He described the altcoin market as a “lemon’s market,” a term in economics that describes a market where low-quality products drive out the good due to information asymmetry. In addition, Cheong described most token generation event pricing in 2025 as an “absolute joke” where the assets’ prices went down by 70% to 90% a few months after listing. “Anyone that bought is down massively,” Cheong added. Related: Binance, KuCoin, MEXC report service issues due to AWS network interruption Data compiled by crypto analyst Miles Deutscher showed that among crypto tokens listed this year on the trading platform Binance, only 3 out of 27 are performing well. This means that 88% of the tokens have declined since listing. The price drops ranged from 19% up to 90%. Deutscher said this was the reason why retail investors were quitting. Only 3 out of 27 tokens listed in Binance in 2025 are in the green. Source: Miles Deutscher A community member responded to the data saying that this is where the industry is currently at. The X user added that they hoped Binance would realize starting at a high valuation wasn’t good for users. Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao previously admitted that Binance’s listing process needs reform. On Feb. 10, the former Binance CEO said that the current system is flawed and suggested that CEXs should automate listings similar to how decentralized exchanges (DEXs) work. Magazine: New ‘MemeStrategy’ Bitcoin firm by 9GAG, jailed CEO’s $3.5M bonus: Asia Express
Centralized exchanges turning a “blind eye”
88% of crypto tokens listed on Binance in 2025 declined after listing
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 112,366.00
Ethereum (ETH) $ 4,331.58
XRP (XRP) $ 2.98
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00
BNB (BNB) $ 879.57
Solana (SOL) $ 215.82
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999804
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 4,318.93
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.238547
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.865282
TRON (TRX) $ 0.332005
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 5,240.24
Chainlink (LINK) $ 23.11
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 112,391.00
Wrapped Beacon ETH (WBETH) $ 4,663.51
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 50.75
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00
Sui (SUI) $ 3.47
Figure Heloc (FIGR_HELOC) $ 0.996366
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.376653
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 589.06
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 4,641.95
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 25.55
WETH (WETH) $ 4,325.12
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.226552
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.53
Litecoin (LTC) $ 113.09
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.252822
USDS (USDS) $ 0.999857
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.10
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000013
Binance Bridged USDT (BNB Smart Chain) (BSC-USD) $ 1.00
Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CBBTC) $ 112,324.00
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 42.69
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.04
Uniswap (UNI) $ 9.63
World Liberty Financial (WLFI) $ 0.210424
Ethena Staked USDe (SUSDE) $ 1.20
Ethena (ENA) $ 0.775635
Monero (XMR) $ 270.90
Aave (AAVE) $ 304.59
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999636
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 4.86
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000010
OKB (OKB) $ 190.10
Mantle (MNT) $ 1.18
Bittensor (TAO) $ 342.79
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 2.57
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 20.85
Jito Staked SOL (JITOSOL) $ 263.59
MemeCore (M) $ 1.88
Aptos (APT) $ 4.40
Worldcoin (WLD) $ 1.49
Ondo (ONDO) $ 0.933743
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.278401
USDT0 (USDT0) $ 1.00
Pi Network (PI) $ 0.345777
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.507264
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 4.90
USD1 (USD1) $ 0.999004
Binance-Peg WETH (WETH) $ 4,329.09
Story (IP) $ 8.48
Binance Staked SOL (BNSOL) $ 231.47
BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) $ 1.00
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.082342
Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) $ 0.034468
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 4.57
VeChain (VET) $ 0.024502
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.07
Algorand (ALGO) $ 0.236597
Jupiter Perpetuals Liquidity Provider Token (JLP) $ 5.54
Gate (GT) $ 16.88
Rocket Pool ETH (RETH) $ 4,930.35
Kinetiq Staked HYPE (KHYPE) $ 50.88
Fasttoken (FTN) $ 4.50
Render (RENDER) $ 3.70
Sei (SEI) $ 0.308646
Kelp DAO Restaked ETH (RSETH) $ 4,550.29
KuCoin (KCS) $ 14.35
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000023
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 8.62
BFUSD (BFUSD) $ 0.999279
Pump.fun (PUMP) $ 0.004795
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 0.650360
Sky (SKY) $ 0.072255
Filecoin (FIL) $ 2.44
Falcon USD (USDF) $ 0.998518
Flare (FLR) $ 0.022174
StakeWise Staked ETH (OSETH) $ 4,551.89
USDtb (USDTB) $ 1.00
Jupiter (JUP) $ 0.516212
Liquid Staked ETH (LSETH) $ 4,671.48
Lombard Staked BTC (LBTC) $ 112,394.00
Four (FORM) $ 3.83
Polygon Bridged USDT (Polygon) (USDT) $ 0.999944
Renzo Restaked ETH (EZETH) $ 4,574.45
XDC Network (XDC) $ 0.080621
Tether Gold (XAUT) $ 3,638.53
Optimism (OP) $ 0.751239
Celestia (TIA) $ 1.72