Crypto.com Review – Debit Cards and Crypto Services
In this Crypto.com review you will find out what makes Crypto.com great and other aspects that make it not so great.
Crypto.com
Up to 8% cashback on purchases
Up to 14% p.a. interest on crypto assets
20+ fiat currencies supported.
Other highlights of Crypto.com are:
- Insurance coverage up to $360 million US dollars
- Strong security features
The not so great aspects of Crypto.com:
- Some card staking requirements are high
- Hidden fees
Crypto.com Overview
Crypto.com’s aim is to attract and welcome new people into cryptocurrency and drive crypto adoption. As a result they designed their application to make crypto easy.
Additionally they have invested in marketing their products to create greater awareness of their brand. They have partnered with UFC, Time Magazine and Formula 1 in the past to do this.
In fact they have grown their client base considerably. They also included a range of services so that they are more of a complete crypto service.
Services offered by Crypto.com
Crypto.com do not just offer credit cards, but a wide range of services. For this reason they operate more like a bank. They provide:
- an exchange
- a custodial wallet
- crypto debit cards
- a crypto lending platform
- NFT marketplace
Supported countries
Crypto.com supports 100+ countries including UK, Canada, Australia and most European countries. However they support 49 US States and territories excluding New York.
On the other hand Crypto.com may not provide support for particular services in some countries that are already supported. For example their crypto loans are only supported in some countries. In some US Territories they do not offer their Visa Card. These include American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
They are looking to offer their whole range of services to countries where they are already operating. Furthermore they are also aiming to expand their services to additional countries.
Supported currencies
Crypto.com supports 20+ fiat currencies as well as 250+ cryptocurrencies worldwide. However clients of some countries do not have access to the full range of cryptocurrencies.
For example US clients do not have access to 28 crypto and Singapore have 8 they do not have full support for. Regardless crypto.com still have a really good selection of cryptocurrencies.
Fees
Exchanges
The cheapest way to use the exchange to buy crypto would be to send a wire transfer. Like this you will not pay any fees as opposed to using credit cards. When you choose to buy crypto using a credit card you get charged additional fees. The fees range between 2.99-3.99%. The rate charged would depend on which country you are in.
Hidden Fees
One of the supposed benefits advertised for using the exchange is that you can buy and sell at true cost. This means you can buy crypto without fees from the exchange platform. Crypto.com in this sense seems to position itself as one of the better value exchanges.
However when you go to buy they raise the price of the cryptocurrency. Or else they reduce the price of the crypto when you are selling. In other words they still charge a fee, they just call it a fee. So unfortunately they are not being transparent with their fees.
Crypto debit card
In this aspect Crypto.com is great. This is because the cards come with no monthly or annual fees.
Crypto.com credit card
The cards are prepaid debit cards that come in a range of 7 different colours. The cards provide you with attractive crypto back rewards when you spend using your card.
Crypto.com Review: Card
The crypto cards are the best part of using Crypto.com. They have a percentage reward that ranges from 1-8%. The percentage reward you get would depend on how much CRO you have available and want to stake. CRO is the Crypto.com token. The staking amount required will depend on the fiat currency you are using.
Additionally the card tier you have will determine the amount of benefits you can get. It will also determine the amount of ATM withdrawals and foreign transactions you have available each month.
Cards CRO Staking and benefits
| Midnight blue | Ruby steel | Royal indigo / Jade green | Frosted rose gold / Icy white | Obsidian | |
| CRO stake | N/A | USD 400 / EUR 350 / GBP 300 / CAD 500 | USD 4,000 / EUR 3,500 / GBP 3,000 / CAD 5,000 | USD 40,000 / EUR 35,000 / GBP 30,000 / CAD 50,000 | USD 400,000 / EUR 350,000 / GBP 300,000 / CAD 500,000 |
| CRO rewards | 1% | 2% | 3% | 5% | 8% |
| Spotify | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| Netflix | 100% | 100% | 100% | ||
| Amazon prime | 100% | 100% | |||
| Expedia | 10% discount | ||||
| Airbnb | 10% discount | ||||
| Airport lounge access with Loungekey | ✓ | +1 guest | +1 guest | ||
| Crypto.com private | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Earn bonus interest | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Exclusive merchandise welcome pack | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Private jet partnership | ✓ |
Crypto.com Review: Customer Service
For this Crypto.com review we would like to point out that Crypto.com have 24/7 customer support. You have the option to contact them via in-app live chat or via email at contact@crypto.com.
In the past they have had numerous complaints about their customer service. There was a major issue in their customer service, which is – there is no response whatsoever! As a result it was very frustrating to clients when they got stuck either signing up or transferring funds.
However we are happy to say that it seems that Crypto.com have turned things around. Publicly they still have an overall poor rating as you can see on Trustpilot. However they are quite on the ball now and are providing really quick responses to customers. Which is exactly how it should work.
The team respond to negative reviews with a couple of hours which is fantastic for the customers. To clarify, even the fact that they are bothering to respond to public complaints is a good sign. Quite a lot of crypto companies still need to get their customer service in order. So Crypto.com is doing well here.
Moreover there are a very small amount of reviews on Trustpilot. You have to bear in mind that Crypto.com has over 10million customers. So the negative reviews are a tiny portion of their clients that have accidentally slipped through the cracks. Most Crypto.com clients are pretty happy with service they get from Crypto.com.
Crypto.com Review: Security and Privacy
Crypto.com place security as their top most priority. They believe that trust is the bedrock of achieving mainstream crypto adoption.
For this reason security and privacy are by design and built in their processes. Crypto.com continue to train staff on security and actively invest in security to establish the best standards.
Crypto.com have engaged Kudelski Security. FYI this company is an external globally recognised auditing firms that are specialised on security. They stress tested and audited their blockchain systems.
Crypto.com are the first crypto company in the world to have the highest level certifications. The certifications are for both NIST cybersecurity and privacy framework. The certificates are: ISO/IEC 27701:2019, CCSS Level 3, ISO/IEC 27001:2013 and PCIDSS v3.2.1 Level 1 compliance, and independently assessed at Tier 4.
Additionally for this Crypto.com review we want to point out they also use other methods to achieve security and privacy:
Cold storage
100% of crypto are held offline in cold storage. They have a partnership with Ledger. Ledger who we actively promote are one of best hardware wallets.
If you are interested you can read the Ledger review or buy a Ledger wallet here. You can also opt for a Trezor hardware wallet which is just as good as Ledger. You can read the Trezor review here or buy a Trezor here.
In the case of Crypto.com, they have a Ledger Vault which is an institutional grade custody solution.
Multi factor authentication (MFA)
Any transaction you make on Crypto.com will require MFA to protect your funds. The methods used include your password, biometric, email, phone and authenticator verification.
Withdrawal protection
There is a mandatory set up for whitelisting your external addresses. This will be done via email.
Hardware Security Modules (HSM)
These modules are devices that performs cryptographic functions. They perform authentication, encryption and decryption for digital signatures and they manage and safeguard digital keys.
Multi-signature technologies
This is a method where a group of users sign a single document. All parties have to agree on a transaction before it can happen which makes it secure.
Insurance
Crypto.com have USD 360 million in cold storage. 100% of which is insured against damage and destruction and third-party theft.
Fiat is held in regulated accounts
Your fiat currency is held in regulated bank accounts that are in your name. As a result you retain ownership of your currency. Crypto.com does cannot claim any of these funds.
Access to funds
Crypto.com have strict controls on who has access to your funds. Only select trusted personal have access to hot wallets or cold storage.
Crypto.com History
The company initially was called Monaco Technologies GmbH. It was founded in June 2016 and was later rebranded to Crypto.com in July 2018. They launched an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2017 to raise capital for the business. The company managed to raise a total of $ 26.7 million US dollars.
It is a Singapore based company under the trademark Foris DAX Asia Pte. Ltd. It is a subsidiary of Foris DAX MT (Malta) Ltd. They have offices in 25 locations around the world including: Singapore, United Kingdom, Malta, Australia, Ireland and the United States. They have grown their team to include 3,000 staff members.
Crypto.com Review Conclusion – is Crypto.com Safe?
To conclude this Crypto.com review we would give Crypto.com a good overall score. Mainly because their cards and application are pretty intuitive and easy to use. Pros and cons are listed below, or if you are looking for an alternatives try Advcash crypto cards or Wirex crypto cards.
Negatives
The only negatives are the hidden fees and the cost of the cards. Firstly hidden fees is a concept based on principle. It is always better when a company is transparent with its clients about the fees.
Secondly regarding the cards you could always get the midnight blue card because you do not need to stake crypto. On the other hand if there some perks you think may be worthwhile you could always upgrade your card. Especially if you are happy with Crypto.com’s product.
Positives
Crypto.com are committed to improving their service to existing clients. That goes for whether they are expanding their services provided or addressing shortfalls. In fact they did a good job addressing customer services issues. Crypto.com hired more customer service representatives to shore up their resources.
As a result they are much faster at getting back to customers. In fact we are happy to say that we revised this review to reflect the news. It shows a strong commitment from Crypto.com to its customers.
Another positive is that they are covered by insurance to ensure your funds are safe. This is something that is fairly unique to Crypto.com and Coinbase. It is a great plus and especially great for clients to give them some piece of mind.
Crypto.com have invested heavily in security and privacy. Hopefully in future they will not need to resort to insurance. These are the most attractive reasons for using Crypto.com.
Concluding Thoughts
However although they have hundreds of millions insured, if they get hacked for larger amounts you can still lose money. That is why no matter how secure the exchange seems to be, you should only keep small amounts on exchanges.
We suggest you use a hardware wallet to secure most of your funds like most crypto enthusiasts would recommend.
Crypto.com
Up to 8% cashback on purchases
Up to 14% p.a. interest on crypto assets
20+ fiat currencies supported.
