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) $ 117,755.00
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,964.29
XRP (XRP) $ 2.80
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00
BNB (BNB) $ 694.77
Solana (SOL) $ 163.55
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999996
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.203951
TRON (TRX) $ 0.306694
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,960.85
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.729806
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 46.32
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 117,497.00
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,574.57
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.390615
Sui (SUI) $ 3.43
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 532.37
Chainlink (LINK) $ 15.39
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 20.88
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.200680
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.09
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,175.61
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000013
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.00
USDS (USDS) $ 0.999978
WETH (WETH) $ 2,965.41
Litecoin (LTC) $ 94.91
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 46.68
Binance Bridged USDT (BNB Smart Chain) (BSC-USD) $ 1.00
Monero (XMR) $ 332.45
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.00
Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CBBTC) $ 117,742.00
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00
Uniswap (UNI) $ 8.79
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 4.50
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000013
Aave (AAVE) $ 300.88
Bittensor (TAO) $ 399.33
Pi Network (PI) $ 0.473392
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.108204
Aptos (APT) $ 4.91
Ethena Staked USDe (SUSDE) $ 1.18
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 2.53
OKB (OKB) $ 48.95
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 5.41
Jito Staked SOL (JITOSOL) $ 198.77
Ondo (ONDO) $ 0.897275
BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) $ 1.00
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 18.43
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.06
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.086339
USD1 (USD1) $ 1.00
Ethena (ENA) $ 0.338105
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 4.69
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.233140
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.623503
VeChain (VET) $ 0.024351
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.409064
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 9.91
Gate (GT) $ 16.36
Algorand (ALGO) $ 0.223120
Fasttoken (FTN) $ 4.45
Render (RENDER) $ 3.69
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 0.721569
Sei (SEI) $ 0.333652
Worldcoin (WLD) $ 1.05
Binance-Peg WETH (WETH) $ 2,963.70
Filecoin (FIL) $ 2.59
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000022
Lombard Staked BTC (LBTC) $ 117,478.00
Sky (SKY) $ 0.079976
Jupiter Perpetuals Liquidity Provider Token (JLP) $ 4.74
Binance Staked SOL (BNSOL) $ 173.54
Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) $ 0.024013
SPX6900 (SPX) $ 1.62
Jupiter (JUP) $ 0.490608
KuCoin (KCS) $ 11.51
USDtb (USDTB) $ 0.999830
First Digital USD (FDUSD) $ 0.998534
Kelp DAO Restaked ETH (RSETH) $ 3,105.75
Rocket Pool ETH (RETH) $ 3,376.69
Story (IP) $ 4.74
USDT0 (USDT0) $ 1.00
Celestia (TIA) $ 1.93
NEXO (NEXO) $ 1.28
Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) $ 1.27
Injective (INJ) $ 12.63
Flare (FLR) $ 0.017119
MemeCore (M) $ 0.745005
Sonic (S) $ 0.364307
Optimism (OP) $ 0.663306
Stacks (STX) $ 0.752490
XDC Network (XDC) $ 0.071129
Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) $ 1.75
Mantle Staked Ether (METH) $ 3,190.80
StakeWise Staked ETH (OSETH) $ 3,081.30
Solv Protocol BTC (SOLVBTC) $ 117,439.00
Polygon Bridged USDT (Polygon) (USDT) $ 1.00
Tokenize Xchange (TKX) $ 13.70