Even if you don’t like cryptocurrencies, you’ve probably seen the Crypto.com logo before. On the Internet, in advertisements, and at sports games. Basically, everywhere. But what does Crypto.com have to offer? And do Crypto.com’s services live up to what they say they do? This review has more!
Crypto.com is an ecosystem for virtual currencies that tries to make them part of everyday life. Crypto.com is especially interesting because it has a universal mobile app, a VISA cryptocurrency card, its own exchange, and interest on cryptocurrencies that you temporarily lock in your account.
With the Crypto.com mobile app, you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies using traditional fiat currencies. You can pay for the purchase with a bank transfer (in EUR) or a payment card (dozens of currencies including CZK). But if you pay by card, you have to pay an extra 2.99%. Without markup, it will cost you between 0.3% and 0.8% to buy cryptocurrency.
Through the exchange platform, you can trade hundreds of different pairs of cryptocurrencies, and most transactions don’t cost more than half a percent.
Crypto.com even has its own cryptocurrency called Cronos (CRO), which gives users a lot of benefits. For buying and temporarily locking CRO tokens, you might get a discount on fees, cash back from card purchases, or 10% interest per year on CRO tokens. More will be said in the next part of this review.
Advantages:
- A reliable platform
- Superior features and quality security
- Buy and sell cryptocurrencies for fiat currency
- Crypto.com payment card
- Earning option (staking/Crypto Earn)
Disadvantages:
- Only in English
- 2.99% fee for buying cryptocurrencies with a card
- KYC verification required
Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency platform founded in 2016 and operated by Foris MT Limited in San Julians, Malta, and Foris DAX Global Limited in Hong Kong, China. It does not offer services in Czech. The platform supports over 300 cryptocurrencies, including BTC, BCH, XRP, LTC, ETH, and more, and allows users to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies, trade derivatives, stake cryptocurrencies, and use the payment card Crypto.com.
Payment methods include bank transfers, payment cards, and cryptocurrency. The platform requires registration for purchasing and trading limits, and additional charges apply. The minimum deposit is arbitrary, and card purchase fees are 2.99% (in some countries 3.99%). Buy/sell fees are also charged, and discounted fees are available.
Offer of products and services
Crypto.com is a big project that is all about cryptocurrencies and how they can be used in daily life. There are 5 main parts to the project:
- Crypto.com App is a mobile app that makes it easy to buy and sell digital currencies. The Crypto.com Wallet software has a wallet built into it. Since the wallet is centralized, tokens are kept in accounts on Crypto.com.
- Crypto.com The DeFi Wallet app is a decentralized place to store cryptocurrency. The user keeps the private keys and the seed, so no one else, not even Crypto.com, can get into the wallet.
- Crypto.com Exchange is an online market for buying and selling cryptocurrencies and derivatives of cryptocurrencies. You can use the web platform or the Crypto.com Exchange app to get to the exchange.
- The Crypto.com Payment Card is a VISA payment card that lets you put 9 different cryptocurrencies and 6 fiat currencies on it. The Crypto.com App is used to handle the card.
- CRO Token, also called “Crypto.com coin,” is the main cryptocurrency in the Crypto.com ecosystem.
Buying and selling cryptocurrencies
You can buy and sell over 300 cryptocurrencies with the Crypto.com app, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Cardano.
When you buy something, you have three ways to pay:
- With a credit card, you can pay instantly with a VISA or Mastercard. You can also use CZK to pay.
- Crypto Wallet: A way to pay with cryptocurrencies that you put into your Crypto.com account.
- Fiat Wallet: Payments in fiat currencies that you transfer from your bank into your Crypto.com account. European customers can only open an account in Euros, so deposits in other currencies have to be transferred.
When selling cryptocurrencies, you can choose from the following options:
- Card Wallet: Send crypto to a Crypto.com payment card.
- Fiat Wallet – Buying and selling digital currencies for real money. The money will be added to your Crypto.com account, which is held in euros. From there, you can send it to your own bank account.
Crypto.com has its own exchange where you can trade more than 150 different cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies are traded in pairs with USDT, but some can also be traded in pairs with USDC, BTC, or CRO.
The exchange does not work with traditional fiat currencies. But you can move cryptocurrencies from the wallet on the stock exchange to the wallet on the mobile app, which already lets you sell cryptocurrencies for cash.
You can get to the stock exchange through a web browser or a mobile app for iOS or Android. The trading application is a little more complicated because it has a lot of tools and can be used in three ways:
- Exchange of two different cryptocurrencies in the classic way ( Spot)
- Using leverage to trade cryptocurrencies ( Margin)
- Trading in cryptocurrency derivatives ( Derivatives)
There are 4 ways to place an order:
- A market order to buy or sell something right away. The order will be filled right away at the best price after it has been sent. The only thing that’s set is the amount of cryptocurrency (Amount).
- Limit: With a limit order, you set the amount you want to buy or sell and the price you want to pay. The order won’t be carried out until a good counteroffer comes along.
- Stop Loss: You set the amount (Amount) of the order and the stop price (Stop). When the market hits the stop price, a market order is triggered, and a buy or sell happens as soon as possible. The most important thing is to make the trade, not the price (it can be worse than the stop price).
- Stop Limit: You set the volume (Amnout), stop price (Stop), and limit price (Limit) for the order (Price). When the market price hits the stop level, a buy or sell limit order is made. The most important thing is getting a good price (it can’t be worse than the limit price), not making the trade happen.
When you trade derivatives, you have a few different choices. There are only Market and Limit orders, but traders can specify how long they will last:
- FOK: The whole order must be placed right away or it will be canceled.
- IOC: Order (or part of it) must be placed right away or it will be canceled.
- GTC – The order will be active until it is carried out or until you close it manually.
- Post-Only means that the order can’t be carried out right away. Instead, it has to be put into the order book first.
DERIVATIVES AND LEVERAGED TRADING
With 10x financial leverage, you can trade about 50 of the largest cryptocurrencies (so-called on margin). This just means that both profits and losses from trades will be 10 times higher than spot transactions.
Margin trading is essentially trading with borrowed money. So, even a small change in price on the market can lead to a big gain or loss.
Crypto.com also lets you trade cryptocurrency derivatives, and you can use 1x to 100x leverage if you want to. There are two different kinds of derivatives:
- Futures: The contract has an end date, so after a certain amount of time, it will end on its own.
- Permanent: The contract doesn’t end, so you have to close the position yourself.
CRO is the original cryptocurrency of the Crypto.com project, similar to BNB Coin in the case of Binance exchange. And like Binance, Crypto.com rewards you for holding or using the exchange’s cryptocurrency.
The principle is very simple:
The more CRO (stake) you hold, the more benefits you get. These benefits include, for example, reduced fees or refunds on purchases made with the Crypto.com card.
You can purchase CRO tokens in the Crypto.com mobile app or through cryptocurrency exchanges (such as Crypto.com, Huobi, Bittrex or KuCoin) (such as Crypto.com, Huobi, Bittrex or KuCoin). Initially, the CRO token worked on the ERC-20 standard (Ethereum network), but as of March 2021, Crypto.com has its own blockchain – the so-called Cronos. Thus, the CRO runs on two separate blockchains, with the mobile app and the Crypto.com exchange allowing transfers between them.
WHAT IS CRO STAKING?
Staking knows that you lend CRO tokens purchased from the exchange, for which you receive a small reward (interest).
To start staking, you must first purchase CRO tokens. Mobile applications and trading platforms can be used for this purpose. Once you have purchased the tokens, you can start staking them through the Bet & Earn tab.
Crypto.com distinguishes 2 bet variants:
- CRO Bet – Deposit at least 5000 CRO. For lending tokens to exchange, you will get 10% interest per year (reward paid daily). In CRO stake, tokens are locked for 180 days (6 months), during which time tokens cannot be sold or withdrawn.
- Flexible Betting – Flexible betting is where the exchange rewards you daily based on your exchange account balance. You are not required to lock the token for 180 days and additionally, other cryptocurrencies besides CRO also count. Just keep a minimum amount of crypto and enable it in the settings.
Another pillar of the Crypto.com ecosystem is the Crypto.com payment card. You can pay by card on the Internet and in physical stores, in the Czech Republic and abroad. In short, everywhere accepts VISA payment cards.
Crypto.com’s card works like a prepaid card, so it’s not linked to any accounts. This means that you have to manually deposit money to the card. And how to top up the card?
You can top up the card with the amount you deposit into your Crypto.com app account. 22 different cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP…) or SEPA payments (EUR) can be used for this. The maximum limit for reloading the card is €25,000 per month.
For Crypto.com card payments, you will get money back from your purchases or more precisely a portion of it (the so-called refund). You save between 1 and 8% on every card payment.
Refunds are paid in CRO tokens to your Crypto.com wallet. However, there are some exceptions where refunds are not applicable (e.g. payment for service, payment at a gas station, etc.). Conversely, Netflix or Spotify subscribers who use the Crypto.com card to pay for these services will receive a FULL refund.
Crypto Earn and other services
We’ll stick with paying rewards for a while. As part of the Crypto Earning service, you can earn up to 14% per year from tokens that you temporarily lock into your account (note that this is not a staking). Cryptocurrencies cannot be withdrawn or sold during the lockup period.
This feature is available from the Crypto.com DeFi Wallet app.
Interest rates range from 1% to 14% per year, but you will only get the highest interest rates on select cryptocurrencies when they are fixed for 3 months or more. It also determines how much CRO you bet.
You can lock 50 different cryptocurrencies including BTC, CRO, and stablecoins. It is possible to lock cryptocurrencies from the exchange platform and from the mobile application. The bonus is paid out daily but has no interest (i.e. no compounding).
ANOTHER SERVICE
The payment protocol is another part of the Crypto.com ecosystem. This is how sellers can accept cryptocurrency as payment. Also, coins that are sent can be automatically changed into stablecoins or regular money.
The last service we’ll talk about is getting loans with cryptocurrency. You can borrow up to 50% of the value of the cryptocurrency assets you put on Crypto.com. So if you have $10,000 worth of cryptocurrency, you can borrow up to $5,000. Your cryptocurrencies will be used as a guarantee to the lender that you will pay back the loan.
But the interest rate is pretty high when you borrow money. The base rate is 12% p.a., but if you bet at least $40,000 worth of CRO, you get a discounted rate of 8% p.a.
Fees at Crypto.com
What Crypto.com has to offer is already known to us. But we need to figure out how much it costs now.
FEES FOR DEPOSITS, WITHDRAWALS, AND PURCHASES OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES
You can put money into and take money out of your bank account using a bank transfer. But, as we said above, Crypto.com will only hold euros in your account. So watch out for bank fees (e.g. currency conversion fees).
- Card purchase fee: Using a credit card to buy cryptocurrencies will cost you a 2.99% fee. But for the first 30 days after you sign up, you don’t have to pay this fee.
- The difference between the price to buy and the price to sell is called the spread. Whenever you buy or sell something, you will lose a small amount because of the different rates. The size of this loss is determined by the spread, which changes all the time. During our tests, the spread for Bitcoin was about 1.2%, so to buy or sell, we had to pay 0.6%.
- Cryptocurrency Withdrawal: If you buy cryptocurrencies and want to send them to an external wallet, you have to pay a transaction fee. This fee is part of the cryptocurrency network and basically pays miners for processing a transaction.
FEES ASSOCIATED WITH THE CRYPTO.COM CARD
ATM Withdrawal Fee: Once you’ve used up your free ATM withdrawals for the month, you’ll have to pay a 2% fee for each withdrawal after that.
Conversion fee: If you pay with a different currency, you will be charged a 0.5% conversion fee. For example, the exchange takes place when you pay for something with crowns but have cryptocurrencies on your card.
There are also fees of €50 to close an account, €50 to get a new card, €5 for not using the card for a year, and more.
FEES ASSOCIATED WITH TRADING ON THE CRYPTO.COM EXCHANGE
- The difference between the price to buy and the price to sell is called the spread. Spreads are always changing in size based on how much liquidity there is. For pairs with a lot of buyers and sellers, like BTC/USDT, the spread is usually low, below 0.1%. But if you trade less well-known cryptocurrencies, you can expect spreads that are up to 3% higher.
- Exchange Fee: Every time you buy or sell something, the exchange charges you a fee. How much you have to pay depends on how much you have traded in the last 30 days.
What is a MAKER/TAKERS fee? If your order is added to the order book and makes the market more liquid, it is called a MAKER order. If, on the other hand, the order takes away liquidity (that is, it is executed right away), it is a TAKER.
We have to be honest and say that the 0.4% base fee is quite high. For example, the base fee on Binance is only 0.1%, which is 4 times less than on Crypto.com.
By having the CRO token, you can pay less at Crypto.com. You can get a fee discount of 10% to 100% when you stake CRO tokens. But you’ll need at least 5,000 CRO tokens to do it.
FEE COMPARISON
Is Crypto.com a good place to trade cryptocurrencies, or is it better to buy from a competitor? Make your own decision! In the table below, you can see how much it costs to buy Bitcoin through Crypto.com and how much it costs to buy Bitcoin through some of the most popular exchanges.
Registration, deposits, and withdrawals
To trade on Crypto.com, you will need your own account. Registration is easy and can be done entirely online, which is a plus. You only need a few minutes and a way to prove who you are.
DEPOSITS AND WITHDRAWALS
The Crypto.com App is a virtual wallet where you can store both cryptocurrencies and traditional fiat currencies (currently only EUR). Fiat currencies are put in and taken out through bank transfers.
The only thing that can be put into a Crypto.com Exchange account is cryptocurrency. Each type of cryptocurrency has its own wallet, so be careful about what address you put in. For example, you could lose your Bitcoins if you sent them to an ETH wallet.
The Crypto.com App makes it easy and free to send cryptocurrency from an exchange.
It can take 2 to 3 hours to withdraw to an outside cryptocurrency wallet. Withdrawing by bank transfer is much slower and can take up to a week. It takes 3–5 days for the request to be approved, and another 1–2 working days for the transfer between banks.
Trust and security
In 2016, the Crypto.com project was made. The project was started by Kris Marszalek, who is the CEO of the exchange and has led a number of successful projects in the past (Ensogo, BeeCrazy).
Crypto.com backs a number of sports teams and events, like the Coppa Italia soccer team and the Montreal Canadiens hockey team (UFC matches, Formula 1 races, World Hockey Championship).
CZECH AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT
There are 14 languages that can be used on Crypto.com, but Czech and Slovenian are not among them.
You can email or live chat with Crypto.com’s customer service. Unfortunately, the customer service line is very slow, so even on “live” chat you have to wait hours for answers.
The Help Center can help you with most of the most common problems. There, you can find answers to general questions as well as instructions and useful tips. The Help Center is very detailed and is always being updated, which is at least a small way to make up for the terrible customer service.
SECURITY
All of the client’s cryptocurrencies and tokens are kept in a so-called “cold wallet” that is not connected to the internet. This is to protect them from hacker attacks. But for smooth withdrawals and trading with cryptocurrencies, the exchange must keep some of the tokens online. Crypto.com does this by putting its own tokens on multi-signature wallets that are very safe.
Off-line storage is insured against damage or theft for up to USD 750 million.
The stock exchange keeps fiat currencies in deposit accounts at banks that have to follow rules.
Strong protection is also in place for client accounts. These can be protected with two-factor authentication (2FA, like Authy or Google Authenticator) or an anti-phishing code, for example.
Experience with Crypto.com
Online reviews say that Crypto.com is a project you can trust. Also, when people talk about Crypto.com online, most of the time they say nice things, but sometimes they say bad things.
We were most interested in criticism and complaints.
Most unhappy customers say that the customer service line is slow or that the prices are too high. And there are only two things we can agree on.
Fees are one example:
There is always a cheaper way to trade on an exchange platform or buy cryptocurrencies through a mobile app. And let’s be honest, the differences aren’t that big (0.4% for Crypto.com and 0.1% for Binance, for example).
Even a payment card cannot escape criticism.
The Crypto.com card is especially appealing because it gives cash back. But be careful, because the total costs of transfers can completely wipe out the cashback.
How can that be?
The cashback on the basic blue card is 1%, but buying cryptocurrencies can be up to three times more expensive (see the 2.99% fee for buying cryptocurrencies with the card). If you use up the free currency conversion limit for the month, you will also have to pay 0.5% for each payment in CZK (the card does not support crowns).
Even the slow delivery of the card, which can take up to six months, won’t make you happy.
Also, be ready for constant change. Some changes happen without warning, and they aren’t always good for clients (for example, recent reductions in staking rewards or increases in exchange fees).
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR?
- KYC checks are required for all clients.
- Important documents, like terms and conditions, are only available in English.
- When you stake, you lock up your cryptocurrency for 6 months.
- When you withdraw money from your bank account, Crypto.com does not charge any fees. But watch out for fees at the bank.
- com doesn’t support CZK, so any payments or withdrawals made in koruna using the Crypto.com card will be charged a 0.5% currency conversion fee (if you exceed the monthly limit for free conversion).
The goal of Crypto.com is clear: to build a large-scale infrastructure that lets people use cryptocurrencies in the real world. So far, things are going well for her.
From May 2020 to February 2021, the number of users went from 2 million to 10 million.
But there is one thing we need to stress about.
There are other projects like Cryptom.com. Almost all of the big exchanges are trying to make cryptocurrencies part of everyday life, so Crypto.com isn’t that different. Some of the biggest competitors are exchanges like Binance, Huobi, and Coinbase (respectively Coinbase Pro).
But right now, Crypto.com is one of the most complicated and powerful ecosystems ever, so almost every cryptocurrency fan will like it.
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