SEI Token Could Reach Nearly Half a Billion Market Cap on Binance Debut

Dominant cryptocurrency exchange Binance is set to list layer 1 blockchain $SEI Network's native token $SEI on Aug. 15. As of now, traders see $SEI changing hands at 26 cents immediately after the debut, data from decentralized exchange Aevo's pre-listing futures show.

Aevo's pre-listing futures market debuted on Wednesday with $SEI contracts, allowing traders to speculate on the potential post-listing price of the cryptocurrency. The product is analogous to IOU futures offered by some exchanges.

"The pre-launch futures improve price discovery as users can go both long or short," Aevo's Co-founder and CEO Julian Koh told CoinDesk.

$SEI's circulating supply upon listing will be 1.8 billion or 18% of the total supply of 10 billion, per Binance. So, at an early price of 26 cents, the cryptocurrency will have a market cap of $486 million and rank among the top 100 cryptocurrencies. As of now, $SEI is not available for trading on any cryptocurrency exchange, according to data tracked by Coingecko.

Once the cryptocurrency goes live on Binance, the pre-listing futures will start referencing the index price and charge funding rates to traders to keep prices aligned with the spot market value.

In other word, the pre-listing futures will become perpetual swaps after the exchange listing. Funding rates are periodic payments by bullish long or bearish short position holders. Longs pay shorts when perpetuals trade at a premium to the spot price. Meanwhile, shorts pay longs to keep their bearish bets open when perpetuals trade at a discount.

Aevo has put strict position limits and open interest caps in these markets, considering the experimental nature of the product. The futures are margined and settled in the dollar-pegged stablecoins USDC.