What is Crypto.com?
Crypto.com is a global exchange and caters to 50 million customers in 90 countries. Based on trading volume and liquidity, Crypto.com usually ranks among the top 20 exchanges.
For the last few years, Crypto.com has been a much-discussed exchange. Much of the credit goes to the versatile Crypto.com platform and its unique product offerings. The exchange constantly releases new products and features and stays in the news.
For traders, the Crypto.com exchange offers advanced charts, analytical tools, and several order types.
For beginners, Crypto.com has a “learn” section, which is loaded with guides, research analysis, market updates, news, and trends.
- Crypto.com is well-known for its unique offerings like the Crypto.com Visa Card, Trading Arena, DCA Trading Bot, and more.
- The exchange has over 250 cryptocurrencies and offers advanced trading
- Currently, Crypto.com caters to about 50 million users in about 90 countries. In the US, the exchange can be used in the states where cryptocurrencies are considered legal.
Note: As Crypto.com offers several products by the same name, here’s a quick rundown of the offerings:
- Crypto.com - The platform that features the Crypto.com card, Crypto.com Pay, NFT Marketplace, and more
- Crypto.com Exchange - The review is about the exchange used for trading crypto. The exchange is also available as a mobile app.
- Crypto.com App - The mobile app that lets you buy, sell and pay with crypto
- Crypto.com DeFi Wallet - A non-custodial wallet to store NFTs and other digital assets
Crypto.com Company Overview
Crypto.com was founded in 2016 with the aim of accelerating the mass adoption of cryptocurrency. Whenever you open Crypto.com’s website, the “Cryptocurrency In Every Wallet” slogan flashes into focus.
Crypto.com was founded by Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, and Rafael Melo. The exchange is operated by Singapore-based Foris DAX Asia, which is a subsidiary of Foris DAX MT Limited.
Interestingly, the clever domain name “Crypto.com” wasn’t adopted until the 2018 rebranding overhaul. Before that, Crypto.com was known as 'Monaco'. Crypto.com opened its exchange in 2019.
So far, Crypto.com has steered clear of any regulatory or legal trouble. The company has managed to acquire certifications from the Australian Financial Services License, Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, and other such authorities.
If it wasn’t for the January 2022 hack, Crypto.com would have had a spotless record. Other than this breach, there have been no issues with security.
Recently, Crypto.com has spent quite a bit on sponsorships. The latest sponsorships include Water.org, the charity. With this sponsorship, the organization’s co-founder, actor Matt Damon became Crypto.com’s brand ambassador.
In 2022, the company became a 2022 FIFA World Cup sponsor in Qatar. Apart from this, Crypto.com has deals with UFC, Formula One, NBA basketball team the Philadelphia 76ers, NHL ice hockey team the Montreal Canadiens, and more.
Fun Fact: The domain name “Crypto.com” was owned by Matt Blaze, a cryptography professor. In 2018, the name was bought by the exchange company. At the time of buying, the domain was valued at $5 to $10 million and the company bought it for $12 million.
How Does Crypto.com Exchange Work?
Just like several other exchanges, Crypto.com lets users buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies. Users can also trade stablecoins, tokens, and more.
Here’s what the Crypto.com exchange has to offer:
- Buy and sell cryptocurrencies
- Trade cryptocurrencies
- Advanced trading charts, tools, and more
- Several order types
- Margin trading, derivatives, OTC
- Many useful features
How to use Crypto.com?
To use the Crypto.com exchange, you have to create an account. The process is simple and takes a few minutes to complete.
Here’s a quick rundown:
- Visit the official exchange website or download the app
- Fill in the details as prompted
- Verify your email
- Set up a strong password
- Verify your phone number
That’s it. You’re all set to trade after you fund your account.
Does Crypto.com Have Its Own Coin?
Crypto.com has a native token called CRO.
During its early days, Crypto.com had offered MCO (short for Monaco) as a part of its Initial Coin Offering. However, as the company had a major rebranding, the older MCO token was decommissioned for the new coin CRO.
Users could swap their MCO tokens for the new CRO token. Crypto.com offered a 20% for early swapping or the tokens would be automatically swapped. Even though the swap received backlash from some users, it did make the Crypto.com ecosystem a lot simpler.
Crypto.com CRO Token benefits (Cronos)
- Earn cashback with Crypto.com Pay
- Stake CRO on Crypto.org Chain to validate transactions
- Stake CRO to earn interest
- Unlock features and get rewards in DeFi
- Get a discount on trading fees
For a full list of benefits, you can check out the infographic:
Crypto.com Exchange Review: Pros and Cons
Even with all those unique features, cashbacks, discounts, and cards, Crypto.com suffers from minor hiccups.
Crypto.com Advantages
Here’s why you should sign up right away on Crypto.com Exchange:
- Multiple features
The Syndicate, Trading Arena, Staking, and other features make Crypto.com Exchange multipurpose. With the Syndicate, traders can invest in early projects and get massive discounts on tokens. Trading Arena
- Beginner-friendly
The exchange has an intuitive interface and a simple layout. The trade view is equally beginner-friendly and you can easily perform technical analysis and place orders. For complete beginners, Crypto.com has an extensive ‘learn’ section with elaborate guides,
- Good customer support
Through the years, Crypto.com Exchange has significantly improved its customer service. The agents resolve queries through live chat and the email option is responsive as well.
Crypto.com Disadvantages
Here’s why you might reconsider:
- Slightly higher fees
Compared to FTX and Kraken, Crypto.com Exchange has slightly higher fees. Especially, if you are a non-CRO user, you will find the fees quite high.
Crypto.com Exchange Supported Cryptocurrencies
At the time of writing, the Crypto.com Exchange supports over 200 cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokens for trading.
Some cryptocurrencies available on the exchange include:
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Cardano
- Dogecoin
- DAI
- Flow
- MANA
- Shiba Inu
- Polygon
For the full list of available coins, you can visit their markets page here.
Crypto.com Exchange Fees
Crypto.com Exchange’s fees can vary greatly depending on whether you hold CRO or not. It also depends on the amount of CRO you have. The more CRO you have, the more discount you will get on trading fees. If you stake 50,000,000 CRO, you get a 100% discount on maker and taker fees.
For non-CRO accounts, the fee structure looks like this:
- Spot and Margin
- Derivatives
- VIP Fees
Active traders can consider signing up for the VIP program as it gives them an additional discount. Here’s what the VIP fee schedule looks like:
Crypto.com Exchange Deposit Methods
As of now, the exchange only supports one fiat currency and that is USD. Users can transfer money to the exchange via SWIFT or bank transfers.
Traders who cannot deposit USD fiat via SWIFT can use the Crypto.com platform. The platform enables deposits via bank transfers, debit cards, credit cards, and more.
Here’s what the process looks like:
Deposit fiat on Crypto.com > exchange fiat for cryptocurrencies or stablecoins > send funds to Crypto.com Exchange account
Users can also choose to deposit crypto funds from a wallet or other exchange to Crypto.com Exchange.
Before withdrawing, check out the fees associated with the process. You can check out the withdrawal fees here.
Crypto.com Exchange Trading Services Offered
Crypto.com Exchange offers spot trading, margin trading, derivatives, futures, and OTC. Traders can get 10x leverage on margin trading. As far as derivatives are concerned, users can access perpetual futures trading along with regular futures trading.
For large orders, VIP customers can use the OTC trading feature. The exchange’s engine settles the orders instantly.
For spot trading, traders get access to advanced charts, tools, and various order types. You can place the following types of orders:
- Market
- Limit
- Stop loss limit
- Stop loss market
- Take profit
- OCO
Trade view
Crypto.com’s trade view is clean and intuitive. You can customize it to your preference. All you have to do is drag the columns and place them where you want.
By default, the main panel is on the left side and takes up a sizable portion of the screen. In the center, you have the order book and trading history. On the right side, you have the order form from where you can place the orders.
From the order form, you can also access margin trading with 10x leverage. To automate trading, select the ‘Trading Bot’ option.
Apart from this, the exchange has several more features which make your trading experience better.
Crypto.com Exchange Features
As mentioned before, Crypto.com Exchange goes beyond just trading.
- Trading Arena
Trading Arena, simply put, is a trading competition. High-volume traders can participate and go against other traders in the arena. You get rewards after the event ends. To get additional perks, you can sign up for the VIP program.
- The Syndicate
If you like investing in new tokens, then the Syndicate will come in handy. The feature allows traders to buy new tokens and give huge discounts on them. For instance, through the Syndicate, you can get tokens worth half a million at almost a 50% discount.
- Supercharger
Another exciting way to earn rewards is through the supercharger feature. Traders can stake 100 CRO per event and get rewarded with other tokens when the event ends. Supercharger rewards can be new tokens as well as older coins like ETH and BTC.
- Lending
With the Lending feature, traders can get an instant loan backed by crypto. You can keep your crypto assets like Bitcoin as collateral against the loan.
- DCA Trading Bot
Some traders cannot monitor the movements all day long, and this is where the trading bot becomes useful. The bot uses Dollar-Cost Averaging and
What is Dollar-Cost Averaging?
Dollar-Cost Averaging or DCA is an investment strategy wherein an investor keeps on investing a target amount regardless of the price of the asset.
Security: Is Crypto.com Legit and Safe?
Since day one, Crypto.com, has been very particular about compliance, regulations, and security. After the $35 million hack, the exchange tightened its security further. Today, Crypto.com has industry-standard security for its platform.
- Crypto.com stores 100% of its assets offline with Ledger. The two have a strategic partnership and the exchange uses Ledger Vault. The vault is further protected by multi-signature technology and Hardware Security Module (HSM). The cold storage is also backed by a 750 million insurance.
- For seamless transactions on the exchange, the hot wallet holds corporate funds. These are also secured and insured.
- US customers’ fiat balances are kept in the Metropolitan Commercial Bank, which is a member of FDIC. Funds up to $250,000 are backed by insurance. Users can claim USD balances at the bank.
Compliance
As far as compliance and regulation is concerned, the exchange boasts numerous certificates. The team has gone out of its way to acquire seals from several regulatory bodies.
Some of them are:
- SOC2 Type 1 Compliance
- PCI:DSS 3.2.1 Level 1 compliance
- ISO/IEC 27001:2013
- ISO/IEC 27701:2019
- ISO 22301:2019
- Singapore Data Protection Trust Mark
Users who are concerned about their privacy should note this - To comply with Anti-Money Laundering regulations, the exchange manually monitors every transaction.
Crypto.com Jan 2022 Hack
Till early 2022, Crypto.com enjoyed the “never been hacked” status. However, in January 2022, the exchange suffered a $35 million hack. Following unauthorized access, Bitcoin and Ether were stolen. ABout 483 users were affected.
The exchange was quick to respond and prevented further suspicious activities. A few customers that were affected were reimbursed.
How users can secure their Crypto.com account?
From the users’ end, you can do your bit and ensure that your account is safe. You can set up multi-factor authentication, withdrawal whitelisting, and more.
What’s Better - Crypto.com or Coinbase?
Crypto.com often gets compared to Coinbase, FTX, and Binance.
- Traders looking for casual trading or beginner-level trading can use the Coinbase primary account. You can also try various order types
- FTX caters to all kinds of traders, and has a trading bot. You also get access to several other features like
- Meanwhile, Binance is for those who want an exchange along with features like Launchpad, Earn, Academy, mobile apps, and more.
Customer Satisfaction: Is Crypto.com the Best Exchange?
Crypto.com usually places in the top-performing exchanges. In our 2022 study of the most popular crypto exchanges, Crypto.com placed 4th in terms of overall reach and engagement with customers.
This is hardly surprising.
One of the big issues cryptocurrency exchanges face is getting approved to operate in the US - which is one of the primary markets for crypto right now.
Crypto.com was smart and made the US one of its primary target markets which cuts out a lot of the big competition.
However, while they do well in reach and engagement, their trade volume is lower than other top performing exchanges.
They placed 9th in terms of total trading volume. A still very respectable position.
The repeat users and good trading volume means that the average user finds a great deal to like in Crypto.com’s exchange services.
If you're looking for good US-focused crypto exchange, Crypto.com might be your best choice.
