- Crypto.com is a FinTech providing a centralized cryptocurrency exchange allowing users to purchase and sell digital assets.
- The company claims it has the world’s leading crypto debit card, and it partners with Visa for the service.
- Crypto.com makes money from trading and exchange fees, interchange fees, and interest on loans.
Kris Marszalek, Rafael Melo, Gary Or, and Bobby Bao founded Crypto.com in 2016. The company has its headquarters in Singapore, and it serves the global market, with its biggest user base in the US, UK, and EU.
The company has more than one million users, offering a holistic cryptocurrency solution encompassing trading, payments, and financial services for the crypto market.
Crypto.com is one of the world’s fastest-growing crypto platforms, featuring a built-in cryptocurrency exchange, lending platform, Visa-backed debit card, and more. The company aims to disrupt the international financial system, bringing crypto into mass adoption.
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What does Crypto.com do?
Crypto.com is a FinTech company offering a centralized, regulated crypto-trading platform. It’s available in 49 states and international markets across the globe. Its exchange service allows the trading of many leading crypto assets, including coins and NFTs.
It also offers a trading platform for other traditional financial derivate assets like options and futures. Traders can choose to use up to 50X leverage on their trades.
The exchange has a native crypto coin, “CRO,” which holders can use to receive discounts in fees and commissions and claim rewards. Registered users can stake their CRO holdings, earning interest on their CRO tokens.
The company also offers a dedicated debit card backed by Visa. Registered account holders can use the card at any retail location or online vendor accepting Visa cards.
How does Crypto.com work?
Crypto.com is a regulated, decentralized crypto exchange where users can trade digital assets and financial derivatives. Users complete a registration process involving “KYC” (Know Your Customer) protocols that register the user, removing the anonymity users receive on other decentralized exchanges.
After setting up your account, you can fund it with a bank transfer (ACH or SEPA), PayPal, SWIFT transfers, Xfers, or credit or debit card deposits. After funding your account, you can apply for the debit card and link it to your Crypto.com wallet, allowing you to spend your crypto holdings at any Visa retail partner.
You can trade your account balance on the exchange or send crypto to any wallet address. The trading platform offers a user-friendly experience, and it offers margin trading, with leverage up to 50X.
How Crypto.com makes money
Crypto.com makes money by charging trading fees on crypto transactions, interest on margin loans, interchange, withdrawal, and currency conversion fees.
It also charges a commission on NFT sales in its marketplace and sells stock in firms. Let’s look at the business model in detail.
Interchange fees
Crypto.com partners with Visa when issuing its crypto card. Visa charges the cardholder a processing fee for each transaction on the card. It gives Crypto.com a percentage of the transfer fee.
Trading fees
Crypto.com charges trading fees on all transactions facilitated through its centralized exchange. The company uses a maker-taker fee structure.
Traders pay higher fees when “taking” liquidity out of the market (selling on the bid) and lower fees when adding liquidity (selling on the ask). The company also charges withdrawal fees.
Interest
Crypto.com offers crypto loans and margin loans for traders. Users stake CRO, ETH, or BTC as collateral, and users receive loans in USDT, PAX, USDC, or TUSD. The company charges interest on these loans.
NFT fees
Crypto.com charges a 15% commission to creators for every NFT sold through its platform. It also charges a 5% commission for secondary NFT sales.
Future growth engine
Crypto.com experienced a major hack in 2022, with bad actors making off with user data. However, the company spends a lot on marketing and brand building with partners like the SuperBowl and the UFC. As a result, the hack barely dented its reputation.
Crypto.com intends to dominate the crypto exchange marketplace, and it aims to disrupt the conventional fiat-based financial system. Crypto.com launched its $200 million Crypto.com Capital fund in March 2021, using it to invest in blockchain-based companies.
Competitors
Crypto.com competes with other leading crypto services, apps, exchanges, and NFT marketplaces. Some of its top competitors include the following:
