Crypto.com (CDC or Crypto Dot Com) offers a lot of services that have something to do with cryptocurrency. You can trade cryptocurrency on their spot exchange, they have their own crypto debit card in collaboration with VISA, you can earn money by staking and you can apply for a (crypto) loan. In this Crypto.com review we will talk about the popular services that this company offers.
On this page you also have the opportunity to leave your own
experiences via our review form.
The history of Crypto.com
The Crypto.com domain was registered in 1993 and was owned
by Matt Blaze. He was a cryptographer at that time and he played a big role for
AT&T. His main job was to use cryptography as a security for multiple
computer systems. Matt never expected that crypto also would get a monetary
role in the future. At the moment he is a scientist with the Georgetown
University and a member of the board of directors of the Tor Project.
In 2018 Monaco Coin bought the domain which was registered
by Matt Blaze. The company used a smart marketing campaign to brand Crypto.com.
Their mission is to play a big role in the transition to cryptocurrency and the
adoption. Crypto.com uses the infrastructure of the parent company and they try
to fulfill the wish of the consumer to pay safely and easily with
cryptocurrency. They do this by collaborating with VISA. They do not offer a
credit card, but a debit card.
By the end of 2019 the company launched their own exchange
to acquire a bigger market share.
In 2020 the company launched a separate wallet app, where
the user also gets access to their own private keys.
October, 2020, Crypto.com lowered the staking interest rates
from 18% to 12%.
October, 2020, Crypto.com multiplied the minimum staking
requirements for crypto debit cards by 2.5x.
November, 2020, Crypto.com lowered the app referral
commission from 50 USD to 25 USD.
Update 2020: Crypto.com swaps MCO to CRO
The Crypto.com platform used two different tokens for the
platform, Crypto.com Coin (CRO) and MCO (MCO). In August of 2020 Crypto.com
decided to phase out the MCO token completely and swap the MCO token to CRO.
This can easily be done using the wizard in the app. You have until November
2nd 2020 to execute the swap, if you do this before September 2nd 2020 you will
receive a 20% bonus. The swap has a fixed number and is therefore not subject
to exchange rate fluctuations.
This also means that from now on, you will have to borrow,
lend and use your CRO in order to qualify for the debit cards. We edited our
Crypto.com review according to this new information.
What is Crypto.com?
A versatile platform where you can do your payment, but
instead of with euro or dollar, with cryptocurrency. The choice to collaborate
with VISA was deliberately made, so their clients can pay everywhere and have
the same rights and bonuses as a conventional cardholder. The product is
delivered in a similar way as the modern Fintech solutions. With the help of an
app you can do more than just invest in crypto:
Earn a yearly interest up to 10%.
Earn CRO with the cashback program (get a 100% cashback on
your Netflix, Spotify or Prime subscription, 5% cashback on all purchases and
10% cashback with AirBNB and Expedia).
Invest in cryptocurrency (spot trading).
Perform payments in shops that accepts VISA.
Moreover, it is a modern way to manage your money.
Crypto.com facilitates the possibility to work with existing cryptocurrencies,
but the company also has its own cryptocurrency. Besides cryptocurrency, you
can also work with regular dollar or euro. The goal is to make paying as easy
as possible and to improve the crypto adoption.
Why choose Crypto.com?
Buy, sell and pay with cryptocurrency via the app.
Advanced spot exchange for professional traders.
Crypto debit cards, with which you can receive 1% to 5%
cashback and other cashbacks.
Cryptocurrency staking with up to 6% return via the app and
up to 10% via the exchange (these are 2 different platforms).
Credit applications for companies.
Automated quant trading.
Wallets under your control, where you manage your own
private keys.
Continue to read the Crypto.com review to learn more about
the platform.
How do you create an Crypto.com account?
Crypto.com has a web-based exchange and an app, these two
platforms seem to be separate in terms of registration procedures. Once you
have registered with both platforms, you can link them together.
Click here to register an account at the exchange (50 USD
bonus).
Click here to register an account via the app (50 USD
bonus).
You can easily create an account via the app. Fill in your
data and you will get a request to verify your identity (this is mandatory).
The process includes giving your full legal name, ID and to verify the ID a
selfie:
+ Visit the website (use this link and receive $50 of
CRO-tokens for free).
+ Enter in your real data.
+ You will receive an email that you can open with your
smartphone and leads you to the app.
+ Install the app and login.
+ Verify your account, this is an automated process. You can’t
use the app without verification.
The verification process on itself is very simple, but make
sure that you send a clear picture with a correct lighting. After this you
usually have to wait for some hours, up to a day, before the process is
completed. When the process is done, you will receive a confirmation email that
you are accepted. From then on you will have access to the app.
How does Crypto.com work?
You already created an account via the app and you have
access to the platform, now you are probably curious about how everything
works. You can only use the CDC features when you deposit credit, this can be
crypto or fiat. Below you will find how the app works, later we also discuss how
the desktop exchange works.
Deposit currency
You can deposit cryptocurrency or fiat by clicking
“Transfer” on the homepage in the app. So, it depends on what you prefer and if
you’re already holding some crypto.
You can easily transfer and deposit crypto to your
Crypto.com wallet. One tip that we can give you, is to be careful and always
triple check the wallet address and the selected coin. It is painful when your
crypto is sent to the wrong address or the wrong wallet. This will result in a
loss of your crypto, you’re your own bank, remember?
If you do not own crypto yet or prefer to pay with euro,
dollar or pounds than that is also possible. You can top up your account using
a bank transfer. Take into account that this can take up to 5 workdays.
Trading crypto via the app
Buying crypto is just as easy as depositing money on your account.
Click the “Buy” button to start. You will get three options to buy crypto in
the app. You can use the amount that is available in your crypto wallet, you
can complete the payment with a credit card or bank account or use the amount
that is available in your fiat wallet.
The use of your credit card has a 3.5% handling fee per
purchase. These fees are for the card issuer and not for Crypto.com. A
traditional bank transfer is free, this is only not ideal if you want to buy
crypto in the heat of the moment.
Finally, it is important to choose the desired method and
select the desired cryptocurrency. Press the button to buy and you are done.
Selling cryptocurrency can be done by simply clicking the “Sell” button.
Earn money with crypto staking
Besides you can invest in crypto, you can choose to let
Crypto.com do the hard work by lending your cryptocurrency. Using the platform
you can stake dozens of coins, but the native CRO crypto of the platform will give you the most return.
The staking return varies from 2% till 10%, but to qualify
for the highest return you have to stake at least 10.000 CRO. Via the newCrypto.com exchange platform you can now receive a 10% return on an annual
basis with “only” 5,000 CRO.
Just like BlockFi and other lending platforms, Crypto.com
offers the opportunity to let your money work for you. You can earn on average
2% -10% per year on your capital. This return depends on the amount of coins
you have staked and for how long. The interest of the staked crypto will be
credited every seven days to your online wallet. It will be paid in the same currency
as the initial deposit.
Up until here it is quite traditional, since crypto.com
works with a peer-to-peer lending system. When we think about this, then you
could say that you help someone else with your money. In short, while you are
lending crypto, someone else is borrowing your crypto. You are some kind of
mini bank. The Crypto.com Earn Program works as some kind of CFD, they earn
money with the difference between the expense for the platform and the earnings
from the credit services.
You can choose your own risk profile, from Low to High.
These are the options you can choose:
FLEX
This is the most flexible option, which offers you a low
risk, so you can try the service. You can compare it with a flexible deposit
from your bank. Stake your coins and earn money, and withdraw at any desired
moment, flexible and penalty free. In return for the low risk, you will also
get a low interest rate.
1 MONTH
Use the power of compound interest to you advantage. You can
raise the yearly interest by choosing the 1 month option. The plan of 1 month
includes temporarily locking of the CRO-coins, which means the bank has less
risks and this will generate more interest than the flexible option.
3 MONTHS
With this option you can earn the maximum interest that you
can earn with the Crypto.com app. Although your crypto is stuck for a period of
3 months, you will earn the maximum reward.
Crypto.com Desktop exchange
Crypto.com also has a separate desktop exchange environment
since 2020. To use this you have to register a separately account and you can
take advantage of various advantages. If you already have a verified app
account, you do not have to re-verify and you can easily link your data via the
app. The advantages of the desktop exchange are:
10% annual CRO interest instead of 6%.
Lower minimum CRO treshhold to receive a 10% interest (5,000
CRO).
The more CRO you stake, the more discount you will get on
the trading fees.
Staking bonus of 50 USD (minimum 5,000 CRO).
How to stake CRO on Crypto.com?
There are two ways to stake crypto via Crypto.com. You can
use the app or use the separate exchange platform.
Stake crypto via the app (up to 6% interest):
Open the app
Enter your pin code
Make sure that you have the minimum amount of crypto
available in your wallet (this minimum is different per crypto)
Click in the app on the Crypto.com logo (at the bottom in
the middle)
Click on Earn
Click on the plus-sign
Click on the cryptocurrency that you want to stake
Choose for how long you want to stake it (the longer, the
higher your return, but also the higher your risk)
Read the terms and conditions thoroughly and decide for
yourself if you’re ok with it
Choose how much you want to stake and confirm this
Your interest will be paid every seven days. When you invest
10,000 CRO or more you will qualify for a higher interest. 10,000 CRO has a
value of 1650 USD / 1400 euro in 2020. This is quite a big investment in our opinion.
Stake crypto via the exchange (up to 10% interest):
Via the new Crypto.com exchange you can now receive 4% extra
interest and the minimum deposit is a lot lower (5,000 CRO):
Register an account with the Crypto.com exchange.
Link the exchange to the app (if you already have an app
account) or perform the KYC.
Send your CRO from the app to the exchange or deposit fiat
or crypto to purchase CRO.
Go to Stake & Earn.
Click on Stake CRO to receive full benefits.
Select the desired tier or enter a custom amount.
Click Review.
Confirm your choice.
When you stake CRO through the exchange, you will not only
receive 10% annual interest, but also a discount on your trading fees.
Quant Trading
Like the most serious current crypto investment apps, Crypto.com offers investors the opportunity to use automated quantitative trading (or better known as robotic trading) to earn money. The trading bot uses a machine-driven trading strategy, and runs automatically in the cloud without human intervention.
By using the leverage effect and margin trading, it can
increase your profits. But you can also lose a lot of money.
Quantitative trading is a piece of coded software that uses
complex mathematical models to determine when cryptocurrency has to be bought
or sold. By analysing historical developments and react on synchronous market
signals. Because the whole subject is very complex, we advise you to do a lot
of research on this subject. To keep this Crypto.com review simple, we chose to
not go deeper into this material.
In short, you can choose to open a savings deposit, but you
can also choose to generate more money with your crypto.
Crypto.com Debit Card
Another popular service from Crypto.com are the debit cards
in collaboration with VISA. The cards are delivered free of charge based on the
number of CRO that you staked for 6 months. Yes, you will also receive interest
on this investment. The debit cards have several advantages, see the image
below.
Please note that all cashbacks are credited in CRO and not
euros or dollars.
How long does it take until I receive the debit card?
We have also ordered a debit card ourselves to try it out
for our visitors.
Applied on: September 24, 2020
Issued: September 25, 2020
We haven’t received the card (it’s not yet shipped). Update
November 2020; still nothing.
We will update this Crypto.com review when we receive the
card.
What are the risks of Crypto.com?
Just like most of the crypto platforms, Crypto.com also makes sure that their security is updated frequently. They use both cold wallets (offline) and hot (online) storage. 100% of the cryptocurrencies from users is stored offline in cold storage. Which means that in theory you cannot reach your wallet without an internet connection. Crypto.com goes one step further when it comes to security, by a strategic partnership with Ledger, a world leader in blockchain solutions. Ledger integrates its multi-signature technology, the Ledger Vault, to the Crypto.com platform. All users can profit from the state of the art Ledger security.
Moreover, Crypto.com has an insurance for cold storage to
protect against direct loss or theft. This coverage provides a financial buffer
of maximal $100 million in worst case scenario, in short, your currencies are
covered. Keep in mind that this only applies when Crypto.com is hacked. When
someone has access to your account, because your own security is weak, then you
lose all your funds.
Although cold storage offers extra security measures, there
are still wallets necessary to ease the accessibility, so clients can withdraw
their coins without delay. Also the stored fiat currencies are save. Crypto.com
protects the fiat currency of its users by storing these funds in secure and
regulated bank accounts, which offers multiple advantages when it comes to
security.
When you are for example an American citizen, your USD funds
are covered for a maximum of $250.000 because of FDIC insurance cover. Moreover,
the user keeps ownership of the fiat funds that are stored on that bank
account.
Crypto.com fees
Globally speaking you are rewarded for the amount of coins
you are going to stake. You will receive perks according to which level you are
in. This can be different for everyone, you can learn more about that on their
official website.
We specified the Crypto.com fees for the investing section
only in this Crypto.com review. There are more (specific additional costs and
fees for using the debit card, for example.
No position entry or exit charges will be charged when
trading with Crypto Invest. However, they do charge a daily fee over all the
profits. At this moment it is free to use Invest, but this can change in the
future.
You pay a fee of 9% over your profits when you stake 10,000
CRO or more, when you stake less then you pay a fee of 18%.
They deduct a success fee on your profits, without touching
your initial deposit. When you, for example, started with $100 and you earned
$5 on that same day, $0.90 will we deducted, which is 18%.
For users with 10,000 or more locked in CRO staking, Crypto.com
deducts an initial fee of 9%. Fees are claimed every 24 hours at 00:00 UTC, or
when you withdraw (a part of) your money.
Is Crypto.com safe to use?
Looking at the security protocols, we could state that
Crypto.com is a safe platform. You can look at the partnership between
Crypto.com and Ledger and VISA as a sign of their commitment to offer their
users a world class service.
YouTube is another excellent source that shows the
legitimacy of Crypto.com. There are many videos of users who are actively buying
with their CRO VISA card that show that Crypto.com seems to do what they
promised to do. The whole team is published with first- and last name on their
website. You can exactly see who is behind the company. They continuously
building the platform and deliver new features.
When it comes to development you could state that the company is almost just as developed as Binance, but with a smaller team. Adapting rapidly to the demand of the market.
