What Drives New Assets Listing: Star Projects vs. Grassroots Gems?
The listing strategies of major exchanges have diverged. Binance often prioritizes projects with substantial user bases, renowned teams, or significant strategic investments. It reinforces its “official incubation” labels such as Alpha and Launchpool, to highlight platform empowerment and compliance review. Conversely, OKX leverages its strong wallet ecosystem to drive community engagement, championing on-chain performance as a key indicator of liquidity.
HTX, however has carved out a unique position in its latest assets listings. Moving beyond reliance on funding rounds or established venture capital, HTX’s criteria now heavily weigh community buzz, compelling narratives, and project transparency. This fresh perspective underpins a listing philosophy centered on identifying “genuine consensus”.
The diversity of new additions in HTX’s recent New Listing zone—HPOS10I, SOON, and Moonpig—clearly demonstrates this approach. These projects, spanning viral memes, innovative technology, and organic community-driven initiatives, reflect different dimensions of the market. This illustrates how HTX Exchange develops its system for identifying high-quality assets with strong growth potential—through the lens of the platform, the project, and the user.
Platform Perspective: Community-Led + Deep Narratives + On-Chain Activity = A New Listing Formula
Exchange listings have typically focused on backend support, capital influence, or strategic wagers. However, HTX’s latest selection strategy signals a notable shift: while traffic remains a key factor, greater scrutiny is placed on the source of that traffic and the sustainability of its growth narrative.
“HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu” (HPOS10I), dubbed the “ultimate meme,” rose to prominence with its unique blend of chaotic narrative, community autonomy, and extensive cultural reach. What caught HTX’s attention was the genuine self-organizing power of its community and the rich narrative potential spanning NFTs, e-commerce, and multiple brand IPs. HTX’s decision to list HPOS10I signals a shift in trends: exchanges are moving beyond chasing short-term traffic to valuing the combined potential of deep narratives and ecosystem growth.
Project Perspective: Where Tech Meets Meme with True Innovation
In a narrative-driven market, purely technical projects often struggle to attract early liquidity without rapidly establishing an emotional connection. SOON effectively addresses this challenge.
While SOON’s name may sound meme-like, it is a high-performance infrastructure project built on a full Rollup architecture. Its “Super App Stack (SAS)” model provides not only an L1-facing Rollup solution but also seamlessly integrates Web2 user scenarios, such as live streaming platforms and content portals, with on-chain technology. This establishes a closed loop from foundational technology to the end-user experience.
HTX’s listing of SOON sends a clear message: exchanges are now encouraging “narrative-friendly tech.” “Tech that can tell a story” is becoming more sought after than purely complex, “hard-core” technical stacks. This suggests that future high-quality infrastructure projects can significantly increase their chances of gaining attention from centralized exchanges by building strong user narratives, clear brand identities, and engaging cultural topics in their early development stage.
User Perspective: Fair Launch Grassroots Projects Can Gain Mainstream Platform Recognition
Moonpig is a typical Pump.fun-native project, launched with no pre sales or VC backing, and driven entirely by its community. Its rapid surge in community engagement, powered by fair-launch mechanics and a lighthearted, meme-driven culture, reflects a deeply decentralized ethos. Moonpig serves as clear proof that even grassroots projects can gain recognition from centralized platforms.
By listing Moonpig, HTX has delivered an obvious message: more organically grown, on-chain grassroots projects will have real opportunities for recognition and official listings on centralized platforms. Meme projects that organically emerge and grow within on-chain communities and meet the criteria for transparency and engagement can also earn the trust of exchanges and gain access to valuable resources.
Summary: HTX’s Three Pillars for Spotting Tomorrow’s Valued Assets
Based on the newly listed assets, HTX’s current listing strategy crystallizes into three core principles:
1. Meme Projects with Lasting Narratives: The focus is on memes supported by authentic, self-governed communities and enduring cultural relevance—projects that evolve from simple memes into valuable IP beyond mere speculation.
2. Narrative-Driven Tech Infra: Essential elements include solid tech, approachable narratives, and quick user attraction. Infra projects must leverage clear branding and “meme-like” narratives to connect with users and liquidity, rather than remaining obscure in complex whitepapers.
3. Grassroots On-Chain Native Projects: Success depends on fair on-chain launches and genuine community consensus. “Grassroots Memes” with transparent operations, equitable beginnings, and a clean short-term track record are the next dark horses ready to gain recognition.
As an established mainstream trading platform, HTX has distinctly shifted its listing strategy in this new cycle, shifting from a reactive “hotspot tracking” model to a more proactive, narrative-driven approach. The rationale is clear: the meme market has advanced beyond simple image-based jokes to embody deeper cultural identities and community affiliations. Concurrently, technical projects are gaining mainstream recognition not through traditional business development, but by embedding themselves into core communities through fresh narratives that better resonate with user contexts.
Amidst this evolution, the role of exchanges is also transforming. They are no longer simply facilitators for asset listings, but increasingly act as critical selectors of compelling cultural narratives and robust consensus value. This, indeed, represents the true strategic moat for exchanges in the competitive landscape ahead.
The post first appeared on HTX Square.
