![]() | |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Cryptocurrency |
Founded | June 2016 |
Founders |
|
Headquarters | |
Products | Cryptocurrency exchange, cryptocurrencies |
Number of employees | 4,000 (2022) |
Website | crypto |
Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency exchange company based in Singapore that offers various financial services, including an app, exchange, and non-custodial DeFi wallet, NFT marketplace, and direct payment service in cryptocurrency. As of June 2023, the company reportedly had 80 million customers and 4,000 employees. [2] The exchange issues its own exchange token named Cronos (CRO). [3]
Crypto.com's user base increased from 10 million users in early 2021 [4] to 80 million by mid-2023, [5] while its workforce exceeded 4,000 employees. [6] Regarding sponsorships and marketing activities, Crypto.com attracted actor Matt Damon as a brand ambassador, [7] collaborated with the soccer club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., [8] and secured the naming rights for the Staples Center, now known as the Crypto.com Arena, in a 20-year agreement valued at $700 million. [9]
The company was initially founded in Hong Kong [10] by Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, and Rafael Melo in 2016 as "Monaco". [11] In 2018, the company was renamed as Crypto.com following a purchase of a domain owned by cryptography researcher and professor Matt Blaze. Domain sellers valued the domain at US$5–10 million. [12] [13]
Crypto.com is operated by Foris DAX Asia, a Singapore-based company [14] that's a subsidiary of Foris DAX MT (Malta) Limited.[ citation needed ]
The company which had 10 million users in February 2021, reported more than 50 million active users as of May 2022 [4] and 80 million users as of June 2023. [5]
In January 2022, Crypto.com was the victim of a hack totaling US$15 million in stolen Ether. After some users reported suspicious activity on their accounts, the company paused withdrawals. Withdrawal services were later restored alongside a statement from the company that no customer funds were lost. [15]
On August 18, 2022, it was reported that Crypto.com had been quietly letting go of hundreds of employees, beyond its initial 5% layoff in June, due to the downturn in the cryptocurrency market. [16]
By October 10, 2022, it was reported that Crypto.com had laid off over 2,000 employees (reportedly 30% to 40% of their staff) since May, due to the cryptocurrency market downturn. [17]
In November 2022, the exchange's token, Cronos, lost approximately $1 billion in value. [18] The decline was caused in part due to concerns after the collapse of FTX, whose executive team was revealed to have used its native token, FTT, to prop up the balance sheet of a sister company and to have allegedly engaged in other fraudulent behaviors. [19] [20] On 14 November, Marszalek, the firm's CEO, assured users that the exchange was functioning as normal. [18]
On June 9, 2023, Crypto.com announced plans to shut down its institutional exchange in the United States by June 21, citing low demand from large financial institutions. The company's main retail trading service was unaffected.[ citation needed ] The change caused speculation that the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles would be renamed, but the company denied this. [21] [5]
In December 2020, Crypto.com acquired The Card Group Pty Ltd, securing an Australian Financial Service License. This acquisition was approved by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board, enabling Crypto.com to operate within Australia's regulatory frameworks. [22] [ non-primary source needed ]
In December 2021, Crypto.com executed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire Nadex, a U.S.-based retail-focused, CFTC regulated online exchange, and the Small Exchange, known for offering simpler futures products. [23] [24]
Denominations | |
---|---|
Code | CRO |
Previous names | Crypto.com coin |
Development | |
White paper | Whitepaper |
Initial release | December 21, 2018 |
Development status | Active |
Ledger | |
Supply limit | 30,263,013,692 |
Valuation | |
Exchange rate | Floating |
Website | |
Website | crypto |
Crypto.com services include an app, exchange, wallet and NFT marketplace. [25] [26] [27] [28]
In May 2022, they partnered with Shopify to allow businesses which use the e-commerce platform to accept payments in cryptocurrency. [29]
Crypto.com signed actor Matt Damon to serve as the company's brand ambassador in October 2021. [25] [30]
In March 2021, Crypto.com became a sponsor of the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team. [31] In May 2021, Crypto.com became the official sponsor of Italy's Coppa Italia soccer cup final. [32]
In June 2021, Formula 1 announced a $100 million sponsorship deal with Crypto.com, marking the first cryptocurrency sponsorship in the sport. This partnership included branding at F1 events and the introduction of a new award. [33] [34] [35]
In July 2021, Crypto.com became the UFC's official fight kit partner, including prominent branding on UFC fight kits worn by athletes during matches.
In September 2021, the company became soccer club Paris Saint-Germain F.C.'s official cryptocurrency platform. The partnership included the release of exclusive non-fungible tokens on Crypto.com's NFT platform. [36]
In September 2021, the Philadelphia 76ers announced Crypto.com as their official jersey patch partner. [37] [38]
In November 2021, the company acquired the naming rights to Los Angeles's Staples Center, renaming it Crypto.com Arena in a 20-year deal reported to be valued at US$700 million. [39] [9] [40]
At the same time, Crypto.com announced a sponsorship deal with CONMEBOL, becoming an official partner of Latin America's leading soccer competition, the Copa Libertadores. [41] [42]
In early 2022, the company announced a partnership with the LeBron James Family Foundation to provide educational resources focused on blockchain-related topics to students of the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio. [43] It also signed a sponsorship deal for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. [44]
In 2021, Crypto.com entered into a $216 million deal with IG Group, acquiring stakes in a US futures exchange and a binary trading group. This move aims to enable Crypto.com to offer derivatives and futures to US customers, an area often challenging for crypto exchanges due to the strict regulations surrounding these investment products. The acquisition includes the North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex) and a 39% stake in Small Exchange, focusing on retail traders. This development is part of Crypto.com's broader strategy to comply with US regulations while expanding its service offerings. [45]
In December 2020, the company acquired an Australian Financial Service License by purchasing The Card Group Pty Ltd. This acquisition, approved by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board. [46]
The Australian Financial Service License enables Crypto.com to expand its services in the Australian market, adhering to the country's financial regulations. This move also facilitates the introduction of new offerings, such as launching its debit card in Australia. [47]
The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced that it had given in-principle approval to the company for a Major Payment Institution License, allowing it to provide digital payment token services in the country. [48] In August 2022, Crypto.com acquired two South Korean startups - the payment service provider PnLink Co., Ltd and the virtual asset service provider OK-BIT Co., Ltd. [49] With these acquisitions, the company secured registration licenses to provide financial services under South Korea's electronic financial transaction act and as a virtual asset service provider. [50]
The company received approval from the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority to be registered as a crypto asset service provider in August 2022. [51] In July 2022, it received regulatory approval to operate in Cyprus from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. [52] In September 2022, Crypto.com received the approval of the French authorities, and a month later announced plans to establish a European headquarters in Paris and invest 150 million euros in the French division. [53]
A cryptocurrency exchange, or a digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies. Exchanges may accept credit card payments, wire transfers or other forms of payment in exchange for digital currencies or cryptocurrencies. A cryptocurrency exchange can be a market maker that typically takes the bid–ask spreads as a transaction commission for its service or, as a matching platform, simply charges fees.
Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd. is a Hong Kong-based game software company and venture capital company co-founded in 2014 by Yat Siu and David Kim. The company initially focused on developing mobile games, then shifted to blockchain gaming and NFTs in 2018.
A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.
Circle is a peer-to-peer payments technology company that now manages stablecoin USDC, a cryptocurrency the value of which is pegged to the U.S. dollar. It was founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in October 2013. Circle is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. USDC, the second largest stablecoin worldwide, is designed to hold at or near a stable price of $1. The majority of its stablecoin collateral is held in short-term U.S. government securities.
Kraken is a United States–based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2011. It was one of the first bitcoin exchanges to be listed on Bloomberg Terminal and was valued at US$3 billion in January 2024. The company has been the subject of several regulatory investigations since 2018, and has agreed to cumulative fines of over $30 million.
A cryptocurrency bubble is a phenomenon where the market increasingly considers the going price of cryptocurrency assets to be inflated against their hypothetical value. The history of cryptocurrency has been marked by several speculative bubbles.
Binance Holdings Ltd., branded Binance, is a global company that operates the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high-frequency trading software. Binance was initially based in China, then moved to Japan shortly before the Chinese government restricted cryptocurrency companies. Binance subsequently left Japan for Malta and currently has no official company headquarters.
Cryptocurrency and crime describe notable examples of cybercrime related to theft of cryptocurrencies and some methods or security vulnerabilities commonly exploited. Cryptojacking is a form of cybercrime specific to cryptocurrencies that have been used on websites to hijack a victim's resources and use them for hashing and mining cryptocurrency.
OKX is a global cryptocurrency spot and derivatives exchange and the second biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, serving over 50 million people globally. It was founded by Star Xu in 2017, who is also the CEO as of 2023. The President is Hong Fang and the CMO is Haider Rafique. OKX is owned by OK Group, which also owns the crypto exchange Okcoin.
Justin Sun is a Chinese-born Grenadian cryptocurrency entrepreneur and business executive. He is the founder of TRON, a blockchain DAO ecosystem ATM system symbol and USDD, an algorithmic stablecoin issued by TRON DAO Reserve. He also works as an advisor to HTX.
Pantera Capital is an American hedge fund and venture capital firm focused on digital assets headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The fund specializes in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. It is one of the largest digital asset funds in the world by managed assets.
Solana is a blockchain platform which uses a proof-of-stake mechanism to provide smart contract functionality. Its native cryptocurrency is SOL.
FTX Trading Ltd., commonly known as FTX, is a bankrupt company that formerly operated a fraud-ridden cryptocurrency exchange and crypto hedge fund. The exchange was founded in 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang. At its peak in July 2021, the company had over one million users and was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. As of November 2022, FTX was the third-largest digital currency exchange boasting an active trading volume of USD 10 billion and a valuation of USD 32 billion. FTX is incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda and headquartered in the Bahamas. FTX is closely associated with FTX.US, a separate exchange available to US residents.
Stake is an Australian-Curaçaoan online casino. It is operated by Medium Rare NV, a company incorporated in Curaçao where it holds an online casino licence. It is a global company with offices in Serbia, Australia, Cyprus and staff globally.
Alameda Research was a cryptocurrency trading firm, co-founded in September 2017 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Tara Mac Aulay. In November 2022, FTX, Alameda's sister cryptocurrency exchange, experienced a solvency crisis, and both FTX and Alameda filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That same month, anonymous sources told The Wall Street Journal that FTX had lent more than half of its customers' funds to Alameda, which was explicitly forbidden by FTX's terms-of-service.
The bankruptcy of FTX, a Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange, began in November 2022. The collapse of FTX, caused by a spike in customer withdrawals that exposed an $8 billion hole in FTX’s accounts, served as the impetus for its bankruptcy. Prior to its collapse, FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume and had over one million users.
Independent Reserve is an Australian-based digital currency exchange founded in 2013. They are an order book exchange and an OTC desk.
MoonPay is a multinational financial technology company involved in the transfer of cryptocurrency. Founded by Ivan Soto-Wright and Victor Faramond in 2019, the company is based in Miami and provides payment infrastructure for cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to be bought and sold with fiat currencies.
GATE.io is a global cryptocurrency exchange and blockchain platform established in 2013. According to Bloomberg and Reuters it is ranked among the top most worldwide for the trading volume.
Arkham Intelligence is a public data application that enables users to analyze blockchain and cryptocurrency activity. Founded by Miguel Morel in 2020, the company's platform utilizes AI to identify and catalog the owners of blockchain addresses.