We submitted our KuCoin listing application on the 26th of November. Our tokensale would start on December 4th and we weren’t in a rush. We just wanted to ensure we had at least one decent exchange (with a usable UI, for those that hadn’t yet earned a PhD in EtherDelta). Little did we know that almost 4 months later, we’d be getting dragged along in a web of broken promises so thick that you’d need a chainsaw to break out of.

Below is a week-by-week review of this harrowing experience.

Day 0 (26th Nov, 2017): Token listing application submitted

+1 week: Nothing. We followed up to see if there was any issue with the submission. We’d heard absolutely nothing yet, so that was concerning. We submitted a ticket through the official support channel, but only received generic autoreplies.

+2 weeks: Still nothing. We started reaching out to the community mods on Telegram. That didn’t get us very far, as the mods themselves weren’t sharing any details besides generic responses (“let me check and get back to you”, followed by silence).

+3 weeks: Repeated emails to support went unanswered and the Telegram leads were growing cold. Why was it so difficult to enter into a business agreement with such a relatively small exchange?

+4 weeks: Through some help from our community, we were able to get in touch with the company that KuCoin had contracted for handling listings. It was circuitous, but we’d finally reached someone we could actually chat with over Skype. We were told it would cost 5 BTC to list. Alternatively, we could go through a community vote over Twitter with just 2 other competitors, and the token with the highest RT count gets listed. We felt confident we’d nail a social media vote; seeing as we’d only ran a small tokensale, it would be irresponsible to ignore an opportunity to list for nothing. The vote would happen next week, so we asked to be included.

+5 weeks: Vote is set to start, but we hear nothing from KuCoin. After repeated attempts to reach them, we’re told that the vote has been delayed until “after New Year’s”. We’re frustrated and ask about a direct paid listing instead of waiting longer. No response.

+6 weeks: Nothing

+7 weeks: Vote delayed again. This was starting to become a habit. It was looking like this whole community vote was a sham, so we reiterated our request for a straight paid listing. Still no response.

+8 weeks: We repeatedly follow up about a direct paid listing and these requests are ignored. Eventually, we’re told that the community vote is ready to go and we’re included. The vote goes live, and lo and behold: the terms have changed. It’s not a Twitter vote among 3 coins anymore, but a Binance-style pay-to-vote and we’re put up against 10 other competitors. Worse, we’re in the ring with some ridiculously large competitors like Tron ($4B+ marketcap). How KuCoin thought this was a fair fight I don’t know, but we had nothing to lose so we gave the vote a shot.

+9 weeks: We closed in 4th place with over 5,000 votes; 1st place topped 10,000 votes. We immediately reach out to KuCoin to finalize a paid listing.

+10 weeks: Complete radio silence. By this point, we have serious concerns about the relationship between us and the exchange. They’ve repeatedly ignored our requests for a listing, and nonchalantly changed terms before without batting an eye.

+11 weeks: We finally hear back, and are promised a listing by Chinese Spring Festival which is before mid-Feb; that’s in about 2 weeks time. We confirm our interest, and things finally start moving.

+12 weeks: We’re told that the date will be delayed by 2 weeks, due to the “Chinese New Year”. How they were blind-sided by this I do not know, but the new date we’re given is Feb 28. We pay the 5 BTC fee and we’re finally able to relax. It took 12 weeks of continuous follow up, but we’ve now got a listing date and we’ve paid the fees. Once the fees are paid, we’re in the clear right? Guess what happened next.

+13 weeks: Nothing

+14 weeks: Screenshot says it all:

And then this:

I want to make one thing crystal clear. We received these messages after we’d completed payment and agreed on a listing date. How a self-respecting organization can change the terms of an agreement after we’ve already paid is beyond me. Maybe KuCoin just doesn’t give a damn about their “partners” or any commitments made to these partners?

I spoke with the Business Development Head at KuCoin and was told that the reason for the latest delay is some upgrade to a new system — and that no listing can proceed. We’re also told the new listing date would be March 5th.

+15 weeks: We are “informed” that the March 5th date is no longer happening, and that we’d be listing “end of March”. We’re beyond furious. The unprofessional behavior demonstrated by the entire KuCoin team thus far leads us to one final out: an ultimatum. Either we’re listed by March 5th, or we have no further interest in a KuCoin listing and we’re publicly sharing all the details about this experience.

+16 weeks: Repeated emails to the CEO go unanswered. KuCoin updates website to remove the names of the team members. We sever our relationship with KuCoin.