Crypto.com Review – Is This Cryptocurrency Exchange Worth Using?

Crypto.com History

Crypto.com was originally founded in 2016 under the name Manaco Technologies in Hong Kong. It was eventually rebranded in 2018 and currently serves over ten million users across the world. With a goal to accelerate the world’s transition to crypto, Crypto.com has found footing in the industry as a broker, credit card issuer, loan provider, and even marketplace for crypto-friendly merchants.

What Regions are Allowed on Crypto.com?

Crypto.com is supported in over 90 countries including many from Asia, Europe, and North America, although some services such as their exchange or credit cards are not available across the board. There isn’t a lot of clarity around which countries are allowed to use which services, and many users are forced to sign-up before they can find that out. While Crypto.com’s app is available in all states except New York, their exchange is not currently available in the U.S. Yet the only real limitation of the app is it won’t allow users to trade margin or derivatives. However, they can still trade the spot, stake, lend, deposit, withdraw, and plenty more with relative ease, so residents of the U.S. can still enjoy nearly all their services via the application.

Crypto.com Account Opening

Opening an account with Crypto.com is fairly easy, but their strict rules around KYC (know your customer) compliance will require you to verify your identify before you can purchase, borrow, or earn any crypto. That said, they have done an excellent job to make this process as straightforward and quick as possible. It should take no more than five minutes and the app will walk you through every step. They say the verification process can take up to three business days, but most approvals are well within the hour and sometimes in a matter of minutes.

Crypto.com Currency Pairs/Derivatives

Crypto.com currently supports over 180 trading pairs—46 of which are for their native token CRO—and nearly 30 derivatives markets. Though fiat purchases and withdrawals on the Crypto.com exchange are not currently supported, a total of seven are supported on the Crypto.com app. Traders or investors interested in obscure altcoins may want to double check their markets before making an account, but most people will find their trading pairs to be more than sufficient.

Crypto.com Minimum Deposits & Withdrawals

Crypto.com requires a minimum of $20 for ACH deposits and $5,000 for wire transfers. They also require various withdrawal minimums such as 0.003 BTC, 0.016 ETH, and 16 USDT/USDC.

Crypto.com Fees & Commissions

At the moment, Crypto.com is actually offering 30 days of 0% fees on crypto purchases with debit and credit cards. After those 30 days, the fee will go back to 2.99%, which is pretty high for the industry. Take advantage of the offering while you can, but I would look to purchase your crypto from them through other payment methods after the offering has lapsed.

For spot and margin traders with a 30-day trading volume under $25k (which is most traders), Crypto.com charges a 0.40% maker and taker fee. While that rate is higher than just about every broker except CoinbasePro (0.50%), it isn’t a bank breaker. That said, if you expect to be trading several times a day, it may be a deal breaker. Fees will, however, incrementally decrease as your 30-day trading volume increases, so higher volume traders will have some advantages. There are nine fee levels with each offering an additional 0.0050% discount for both maker and taker fees. Anyone whose 30-day trading volume exceeds $200 million (level 9) will only be charged a 0.040% maker fee and 0.1% taker fee.

For derivatives, Crypto.com charges a 0.050% maker fee and 0.070% taker fee. They have the same nine fee levels corresponding to your 30-day trading volume and each level also offers a 0.0050% discount for maker and taker fees.

Crypto.com has no deposit fees, but does charge withdrawal fees such as 0.0004 for BTC, 0.008 for ETH, and $8 for USDT.

Crypto.com Platform Interface

The Crypto.com exchange interface is very clean and not nearly as overwhelming as that of other exchanges. It’s a very user-friendly website without too many bells and whistles and their charts/trading tools are pretty on par with other brokers. Users won’t be able to toggle the charts to different styles as is the case with some exchanges, but their charts are powered by TradingView so they should certainly do the trick.

Crypto.com’s mobile app is perhaps where they stand out most. The company has put a lot of effort into their app and it shows. Signing up is an incredibly streamlined process and the application itself is quite intuitive. The interface is as aesthetic as it is functional and its features will be suited for beginners and veterans alike.

Crypto.com Services

Crypto.com offers a number of services from loans, to staking, to credit cards, and much more, so let’s tackle all of them in turn. 

Loans

KYC-verified users can receive loans in 12 different assets and put up collateral in 17. The loan terms are 12 months in length, but may be repaid at any time. Borrowers will receive hourly interest rates with maximum leverage of 3x and cannot have more than 3 outstanding loans at one time. Interest rates for loans are also lower for CRO stakers. 

Staking

Crypto.com offers very competitive staking rewards that become even more lucrative when staking over 5000 CRO. Those staking CRO can expect 6.50% on BTC and ETH, 12% on USDT and USDC, and 6% on the CRO itself to name a few. Just keep in mind these staking rewards will drop up to 2% for those not staking CRO. The APY on staked CRO can also increase up to 14% through the purchase of their different tiers of credit cards.

Visa Credit Cards

Crypto.com’s credit card services can provide holders with very impressive rewards. The first tier is their Midnight Blue card that is free and offers a modest 1% cash back. Other tiers that require additional amounts of staked CRO offer cash back returns up to 8%, 100% back on select services like Spotify, Netflix, and Amazon subscriptions, and, as mentioned, up to 14% APY on that staked CRO.

Crypto Pay

Crypto.com has linked up with several merchants such as Ledger, Time magazine, and BTC Wine to allow users to purchase their products with crypto through quick and easy QR code scans. They also allow you to buy a number of popular retail gift cards including, but not limited to, Apple, Amazon, and Starbucks with crypto. Crypto.com has big plans to progressively add more and more crypto-friendly merchants over time with hopes of becoming a sort of crypto Venmo or Cash app, so definitely keep an eye out for future updates.

 Syndicate & Trading Arena

The final services worth mentioning and ones unique to Crypto.com are the Syndicate and their Trading Arena. These are the services that make Crypto.com stand out amongst other well-known options, such as Bitfinex or OKEx. The Syndicate allows qualified users staking at least 5000 CRO to subscribe to upcoming crypto listings at a 50% discount. Unfortunately, however, citizens of the U.S. and China are not eligible for these Syndicate discounts. Nevertheless, it’s an exceptional opportunity for those eligible and interested in potential future listings.

The Trading Arena is a service where traders can compete for prizes like Bitcoin, USD, and even Teslas. Most of the competitions require high trading volume and large amounts of CRO staking to qualify, but it’s a great chance for some bonus rewards if you’re eligible.

Customer Support

Like many exchanges, Crypto.com has a help center to assist users with any questions they may have. Their help center is very well organized and digestible while still including hundreds of articles full of exchange information, FAQs, and step-by-step instructions for countless support issues. Every article is formatted beautifully and they really do have all the information you will likely need. For any questions or concerns not addressable through their help center, you can always contact their support team via direct message through the app or via email at contact@crypto.com.

Security

Crypto.com takes security very seriously. Although users can’t custodian their own private keys, 100% of their crypto is stored on cold wallets. In fact, they have even partnered with the hardware wallet Ledger to do so. Now, you might be asking how they can keep 100% of their assets illiquid on hardware wallets and the answer is the company fronts their own money in hot wallets to offer liquidity. This means users don’t risk losing their assets in the event of a hack, Crypto.com does. Say what you want about the exchange, but that is quite impressive. And even in the unlikely event funds are hacked, Crypto.com is insured for up to $360 million in losses.

As a side note, it’s worth mentioning Crypto.com does have their own DeFi wallet application, but it does not integrate with the app or exchange.

Additional protective measures come through Crypto.com’s strict adherence to KYC regulations. While they can be somewhat of an annoyance for users when they are first signing up, it’s comforting knowing your broker and exchange-held funds will be safe as regulatory crackdowns continue to harden. Other exchanges struggling with compliance pose risks of fines or suspensions, so that security should offer some peace of mind.

Crypto.com Differentiators

The most notable differentiator of Crypto.com is perhaps the various rewards they offer. Between the cash back benefits of their Visa credit cards and the up to 14% APY on staked coins, there are huge incentives for using their services. Without staking CRO, the rewards are somewhat underwhelming, but stakers will enjoy countless discounts, rewards, improved APYs, and many added benefits if they are a card holder.

Other key differentiators are their help center and security. Though every exchange has some form of a help center, Crypto.com’s is beautifully organized. Most exchange support services can be a headache to navigate, but I found their help center to extremely easy and even fun to use. As for security, their practice of storing 100% of customer assets in cold storage coupled with their massive insurance policy makes them an industry leader in safeguarding funds.

Conclusion

All in all, Crypto.com is an excellent broker. If you are just a trader, the fees after your free 30 days will perhaps be a little steep, but their interface is comfortable and they certainly have a respectable amount of tradable markets. It’s really the services Crypto.com offers where they steal the show as their staking rewards and cash back benefits from their Visa credit cards are wildly appealing. So if you want more than just trading from your broker, Crypto.com is going to be one of the best options out there.