if you hold coins or tokens that have good value but no trading volume in the market yes it is the same as dead coins or junk coins. the key to coins or tokens that have a future is to have a trading volume in the market, there are buyers / sellers. at this time many people get tokens that have no trading volume on the market and that is only for decoration in wallet only.
Well, if you really think that the coins/tokens you are holding has a future, or legit and that the development is ongoing as you can see some proof sending in the community, then better to wait for some time, as most of the project listing in free free in some exchange for them to tell people that they are developing and will still list on other top exchange, so let's just wait for some time to make it happen.