About Crypto.com
Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy, sell, trade, and earn interest on cryptocurrency. It also offers access to leveraged trading through futures contracts, although this feature is not available to U.S. residents as of March 2022. Crypto.com also offers a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a decentralized exchange, and even its own prepaid crypto card that allows you to make regular purchases using your cryptocurrency balance.
Crypto.com was founded in 2016 in Hong Kong by Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, and Rafael Melo. Originally named Monaco, the name was changed to Crypto.com when the domain name was purchased in 2018.
Originally a crypto prepaid card company, Crypto.com has since launched as a full-service crypto exchange, available globally, with over 250 cryptocurrencies available for trading. Crypto.com is available in over 100 countries around the globe, as well as in 49 U.S. states (not including New York).
Key Features of Crypto.com
Crypto.com offers quite a few features and is considered a one-stop-shop for crypto traders and investors alike. While it offers a traditional crypto exchange for trading, it also allows users to stake coins to earn interest, and has even launched an NFT marketplace and DeFi exchange (for trading crypto on a decentralized platform). Here are a few of the key features on the Crypto.com platform:
Crypto Trading Platform
Crypto.com offers a simple trading experience for beginners, allowing users to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. While users can view current prices and learn about each crypto on the website, most trading happens on the Crypto.com mobile app.
The app is simple, allowing users to select a cryptocurrency, view a pricing chart, and place market or limit orders. Users can also participate in quarterly and monthly futures contract trade (although this is not available to U.S. residents currently).
Active traders can access TradingView charts to add indicators and drawing tools for more advanced charting. Advanced orders are available as well, including stop loss and take profit orders.
Cronos (CRO) Token
The Cronos (CRO) token was launched in 2018 as a way to help settle transactions on the Crypto.com blockchain, and to offer users discounted trading fees. Crypto.com users can benefit from using its native token (CRO) for paying trading fees, making purchases, and for staking to operate a node on the Crypto.com network.
Although Crypto.com already offers reasonable trading fees on its platform, users who hold a certain amount of CRO tokens qualify for up to a 100% discount on trading fees. This allows investors with a large amount of CRO tokens to pay little (or no) fees, depending on the trading volume.
Overall, the CRO token is one of the top coins held today, with a market cap of over $10 billion.
NFT Marketplace
The Crypto.com NFT marketplace allows users to browse and purchase NFTs that are listed. Users can also mint their own NFT creations and list them on the platform. Crypto.com does charge a listing fee of 15% on the first sale of the NFT, but there are no charges for additional sales. Users who create their own NFTs also earn a 10% commission on all resales of that NFT on the Crypto.com marketplace.
Crypto.com Prepaid Visa Card
Crypto.com originally started as a crypto prepaid card company that offered a Visa card, allowing users to make purchases with their crypto balances. It now offers multiple prepaid cards, each with varying levels of rewards.
To qualify for most of the Crypto.com metal Visa cards, a user will need to “stake” (or hold) a minimum amount of CRO tokens for at least 180 days before applying. The entry-level card is available without staking CRO, but it comes with the least amount of benefits.
Here’s a quick breakdown of each card, and the benefits of each:
| Card | Obsidian Card | Frosted Rose & Icy White | Royal Indigo & Jade Green | Ruby Steel | Midnight Blue |
| CRO Stake | $400,000 | $40,000 | $4,000 | $400 | $0 |
| CRO Rewards | 8% APR | 5% APR | 3% APR | 2% APR | 1% APR |
| Spotify Credit | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| Netflix Credit | 100% | 100% | 100% | ||
| Amazon Prime Credit | 100% | 100% |
You can find a full list of benefits for each card on Crypto.com.
Crypto.com Earn
Like many other exchanges, Crypto.com allows users to earn interest on certain cryptocurrency that users hold on the exchange. This allows users to essentially earn interest on crypto balances they are holding, with rewards being paid out in the token that is held.
Crypto.com has one of the largest selections of interest-bearing coins, with over 40 supported cryptocurrencies. The highest-paying coins are stablecoins, which are coins whose prices are pegged to a national currency, such as U.S. dollars. Some of these stablecoins are paying over 10% in annual rewards, which is higher than most other exchanges are paying.
Note: These rewards are paid out to a user’s Crypto.com wallet, but do not compound over time.
Crypto.com offers reasonable trading fees for users, as well as fee discounts when staking the native CRO token. With fees starting at 0.4% and going down to 0.1%, the fees are lower than some other large exchanges (such as Coinbase).
Crypto.com trading fees offer tiered discounts, depending on your previous 30-day trading volume.
It also uses a Maker-Taker fee model, with different fees depending on how the trade is executed. A “maker” trade is when your trade is placed in the order book to be matched with another trader. A “taker” trade is when your order is immediately matched with an existing order in the order book. Market makers typically pay less because they are providing liquidity to the trading market.
Here a breakdown of the Crypto.com trading fees:
| 30-Day Trading Volume (USD) | Fees |
| $0 to $25,000 | Maker: 0.4%Taker: 0.4% |
| $25,001 to $50,000 | Maker: 0.35%Taker: 0.35% |
| $50,001 to $100,000 | Maker: 0.15%Taker: 0.25% |
| $100,001 to $250,000 | Maker: 0.1%Taker: 0.16% |
| $250,001 to $1,000,000 | Maker: 0.09%Taker: 0.15% |
| $1,000,001 to $20,000,000 | Maker: 0.08%Taker: 0.14% |
| $20,000,001 to $100,000,000 | Maker: 0.07%Taker: 0.13% |
| $100,000,001 to $200,000,000 | Maker: 0.06%Taker: 0.12% |
| $200,000,001 and above | Maker: 0.04%Taker: 0.1% |
There are also discounts available for CRO token holders. Here’s a breakdown of CRO fee discounts available:
| CRO Tokens Staked | Fee discount |
| ≥ 0 CRO | 0% fee discount |
| ≥ 5,000 CRO | 10% fee discount |
| ≥ 10,000 CRO | 20% fee discount |
| ≥ 50,000 CRO | 40% fee discount |
| ≥ 100,000 CRO | 60% fee discount |
| ≥ 500,000 CRO | 70% fee discount |
| ≥ 1,000,000 CRO | 80% fee discount |
| ≥ 5,000,000 CRO | 90% fee discount |
| ≥ 50,000,000 CRO | 100% fee discount |
Advantages of Crypto.com
Crypto.com is a simple-to-use exchange with low fees, a great mobile app, and a wide range of features to satisfy most crypto traders. Users can access a wide range of coins, earn interest on balances, and even purchase NFTs directly on the platforms. Here are a few advantages to using Crypto.com:
- Competitive Trading Fees (with Discounts). Crypto.com keeps trading fees low, starting at 0.4% per trade. This is a fairly low fee compared to some other large exchanges, and discounts are available for high-volume traders. There are additional discounts available for CRO token holders, as low as 0.00% fees for large volume traders with over 50 million CRO tokens staked.
- Wide Selection of Crypto. While some exchanges offer less than 100 coins, Crypto.com offers access to over 250 cryptocurrency tokens, with more being added regularly. This is a much larger selection than most exchanges, and gives users access to popular coins, as well as smaller crypto projects to trade.
- Earning Interest on Crypto. Crypto.com allows users to earn interest on certain cryptocurrency balances in your account. Interest is paid out monthly in the native token that is held in your Crypto.com wallet, with stablecoins paying upwards of 10% APR. Crypto.com offers a much larger selection of interest-earnings coins than most other exchanges.
Disadvantages of Crypto.com
Although Crypto.com is great for beginners, there are a few things it could improve.
- Fee discounts require holding CRO tokens. Although users can earn up to 100% discounts on trading fees, this requires holding a large amount of the native CRO token. Users may not care to invest in the CRO token, and it may gain or lose value just like any other cryptocurrency. So unless you are committed to investing in the Crypto.com CRO token, you won’t get the largest fee discounts.
- Poor user reviews. Crypto.com receives a fair number of poor user reviews, with complaints ranging from deposit and withdrawal challenges to being locked out of accounts. The mobile app also has some complaints of issues with the app functionality. Although user reviews are mixed, reports of poor user experiences warrant consideration.
Crypto.com is an all-in-one crypto exchange that allows users to trade crypto, earn interest, buy NFTs, and even make regular purchases with crypto holdings using the prepaid crypto Visa card. With access to a wide selection of coins and a simple mobile app, Crypto.com is a decent option for beginners to use.
For comparison, Kraken is an advanced crypto exchange designed for active traders that allows users to trade cryptocurrency, with access to margin and futures trading as well. Kraken is a U.S.-based exchange that offers over 100 cryptocurrencies to choose from. It is also one of the only exchanges with 24/7 customer service.
Although both of these exchanges offer great trading tools and access to a wide range of services, they are designed for different types of users. Kraken is more of an active trading platform, while Crypto.com is a user-friendly marketplace to use cryptocurrency in multiple ways.
Here’s how Crypto.com and Kraken compare:
| Crypto.com | Kraken | |
| Fees | Maker-Taker: 0.00% to 0.4% | Instant Buy: 0.9% to 1.49%Trading fees: 0.00% to 0.26% |
| Number of Cryptocurrencies | 250+ | 110+ |
| Trading Features | Simple and advanced charting, mobile trading, recurring purchases | Simple and advanced charting, margin trading, mobile trading, recurring purchases |
| Security Features | Cold storage, two-factor authentication (2FA), bug bounty program, whitelisting, insurance against damage and theft of infrastructure, FDIC insurance (on USD funds) | Cold storage, 2FA, 24/7 server surveillance, whitelisting, bug bounty program |
Final Word
Crypto.com is one of the most feature-rich cryptocurrency exchanges on the market today, with access to a wide range of crypto for beginners and active traders alike. With over 250 crypto to choose from, the ability to earn interest on 40+ coins, and even an NFT marketplace, Crypto.com is a one-stop-shop for most cryptocurrency needs.
That being said, Crypto.com does have some poor user reviews, with complaints of accounts being locked and deposits and withdrawals taking weeks to process. Crypto.com may also overwhelm new users — with so many features available, it may be difficult to navigate the platform.
Overall, Crypto.com is worth a look if you are looking to start trading cryptocurrency, or if you want to do more with your crypto, such as earn interest or make purchases with a crypto prepaid Visa card. With low fees and a huge selection of coins, it’s a solid platform for beginners and active traders alike.