© Ira Lichi / Shutterstock.com
Key Points
- Crypto.com may be one of the biggest success stories when it comes to domain advertising in the crypto space.
- Crypto.com offers a crypto Visa card.
- Crypto.com was founded in 2016.
The History of Crypto.com: What to Know
Crypto.com may be one of the biggest success stories when it comes to domain advertising in the crypto space. Today, crypto.com has become one of the largest exchanges in the world, with accolades stacking up, including 50 million active users, access across 90 countries, over 4000 employees, and a lot more.
Like many crypto companies, it has been around for less than a decade, but is already a household name for anyone who regularly “talks crypto.” Additionally, It has expanded into more than just an exchange.
Quick Facts
- Year Founded
- 2016
- Founders
- Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, Rafael Melo
- Industry
- Cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency exchange
- Headquarter
- Singapore
- Key People
- Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, Rafael Melo
- Notable Products
- Crypto exchange, Web3 products, Banking
- Website
- https://crypto.com/
Today, we are going to be taking a closer look at crypto.com to learn how it was founded, its most notable products, and what makes them special or unique compared to other companies like them. Here’s our comprehensive crypto.com guide!
The Founding of Crypto.com: How it Happened
Crypto.com was founded in 2016 by Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, and Rafael Melo. Initially, the company was named Monaco, but 2018 brought around the change that we all know today. Monaco bought the domain “crypto.com” from a cryptography researcher and professor named Matt Blaze.
After the domain purchase, the company soon made the transition to calling themselves the much catchier “crypto.com” in case anyone had any doubts as to what kinds of services they provided.
The company is led by CEO Kris Marszalek and is held under the parent company Foris DAX Asia, located in Singapore. Foris DAX Asia is a subsidiary company of Foris DAX MT, the parent company located in Malta.
Part of what makes the company unique is its decentralized nature. While other companies must register and abide by the rules and regulations of the SEC, crypto.com isn’t connected to a governmental body.
For many, this is a selling point as they can use the exchange without any oversight or interference from governments. For others, this creates risk as a lack of regulation has inherent flaws and potentially higher risks.
Crypto.com Through The Years
2016-2018
Crypto.com was officially founded in 2016 by Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, and Rafael Melo. The company headquarters are located in Singapore. The original name of the company was listed as Monaco but was changed a few years later.
In 2018, the domain crypto.com was purchased from a cryptography professor, and the marketing switch was made public, with Monaco being rebranded as crypto.com.
One of the first major additions to the exchange’s product line was when it began shipping Visa cards to people in APAC markets in 2018.
The ultimate goal of crypto.com is to accelerate the world’s transition to the blockchain and its usage as a financial system. Their Visa card would give rewards in a native token, allowing for total financial integration into the crypto.com financial world.
2019-2020
Crypto.com began rapidly growing as the market began expanding. Although many products weren’t yet available in the United States, the company began shipping its Visa credit cards to users in the US.
2020 was a year of record growth for crypto.com. By the end of 2019, the company had over one million users active on its platform. By October of 2020, the platform was regularly seeing over five million users and had just hired its 600th full-time staffer.
2021-2022
©Pamela Brick/Shutterstock.com
Recently, crypto.com has seen massive growth and currently sits at over 50 million users. Additionally, the company began a massive initiative to advertise in markets all around the world.
Through a diverse and immense range of partnerships, the company is often listed as a partner or sponsor on some of the world’s largest platforms. In 2022, for example, crypto.com bought the rights to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Soon, it will become the crypto.com ARENA.
2020 also marked the entrance for crypto.com in the United States market as they began rolling out nearly their entire product line in most of the states.
What Are the Most Important Products From Crypto.com?
Crypto.com has split its offerings into five primary categories: Buy and Sell, Spend, Grow, Defi, and Ecosystem.
Buy and Sell
App
The crypto.com app is the primary place to purchase and trade (buy and sell) cryptocurrencies. Of all the services provided by crypto.com, their app and web portal are the primary avenues through which people engage with them.
NFT
NFTs are somewhat new to the crypto world, but crypto.com has services geared towards them. Through crypto.com, you can buy, sell, and store various collections of NFTs.
Spend
Crypto.com Pay
A rather innovative offering, Pay is a service that allows users to pay online retailers through crypto. Crypto.com acts as the middle man of the transaction and handles the payment, allowing a user to only interact with the crypto side of things.
This service allows users to pay for things anonymously, as well as stay in the crypto.com ecosystem. Additionally, there are rewards associated with using the company pay portal.
Visa
©Valentin Baciu/Shutterstock.com
The Visa is another innovative offering from crypto.com. After being sent a credit card, users can swipe it just like any other card; only it uses CRO, the internal economic token of crypto.com, as payment. Users receive bonuses for having large CRO holdings, including access to airline lounges, concierge services, and more. Additionally, users revive cash back in CRO, sometimes up to 5%.
Grow
Crypto Earn
Using the native economic token of the crypto.com ecosystem (CRO), users can stake in varying pools to earn tiered rewards. In many situations, the rewards can total as much as 6%. Every seven days, the rewards are sent to your crypto wallet to be used immediately.
DeFi
Wallet
Part of what makes crypto.com wallet unique is its decentralized nature. Decentralized wallets don’t have custodians, don’t report to the IRS, and aren’t regulated. There are many advantages to this type of wallet, but users who prefer something centralized can simply use the crypto.com app.
Earn and Swap
The DeFi wallet provided by crypto.com allows for staking and token swapping. While the official app is centralized, swapping and staking on-chain is another option for people looking for a layer of anonymity.
Ecosystem
Chain
Part of crypto.com’s mission is to move the world towards blockchain technology. As such, they have their own blockchain known as Cronos. The company uses Cronos for their native token, CRO, as well as their Web3 applications and other future developments. CRO is also available as an ERC-20 token, however.
Pay for Business
Pay for Business is a service that allows businesses to take cryptocurrencies as payment. Using the intuitive interface, businesses and professionals can invoice, take payments, and more, all in crypto. If used in tandem with a decentralized wallet, users can receive funds anonymously.
How Does Crypto.com Make Money?
Crypto.com makes money through most of its products, almost always in some sort of percentage fee. While trading on the crypto.com app, the platform uses a tiered fee maker and taker system. The lowest level ($0-$25,000) has a maker and taker fee of 0.4%, while the highest tier ($200,001 and above) has a maker fee of 0.4% and a taker fee of 0.1%.
Aside from trading, crypto.com makes percentages on their Visa transactions, staking, and more.
Crypto.com Acquisitions
November 2020: The Card Group Pty Ltd – Undisclosed
Crypto.com acquired the Australian company The Card Group Pty Ltd in November of 2020 for an undisclosed amount. The Card Group Pty Ltd provides wearable, mobile, and prepaid payment solutions for users. With this acquisition, the company expanded its technology, specifically in the region of mobile payments and prepaid payment solutions.
December 2021: Nadex and The Small Exchange – Combined $216 million
Crypto.com acquired the Chicago-based companies Nadex and The Small Exchange in a joint deal in December of 2021. Nadex stood for the North American Derivatives Exchange and allowed crypto.com to expand the sale of certain futures into an American market. The Small Exchange offers small, simplified futures to retail investors in the United States.
Crypto.com Notable Controversies
MCO to CRO Swap
MCO was the original native token of the crypto.com ecosystem when its name was Monaco. Since their rebrand and subsequent change, the company issued a new currency as the platform standard, CRO. Users were told they could switch to CRO and receive a 20% bonus, or they would be forced to transition in the coming months, and no bonus would be given. For original investors of MCO, the swap would have resulted in an outright loss.
January 2022 Hack
In January 2022, users reported suspicious activity on their accounts. After an investigation, it appeared that $15 million worth of funds were lost on the platform. Crypto.com froze all transactions and looked into the problem. Soon after, they reported that no user had lost funds.
Notable Sponsorships
Part of the advertising strategy for crypto.com is its aggressive marketing campaign based on sponsorships. Here is a list of some of the most notable examples:
- Formula One deals
- Italian Association Football League Serie A
- UFC
- NBA team the Philidelphia 76ers
- NHL team the Montreal Canadiens
- Charity organization Water.org
- Matt Damon as brand ambassador
- Purchase and renaming of the Los Angeles Staples Center
- Sponsor of the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Read about other crypto companies here: Kraken, Coinbase, eToro, BlockFi
