Our weekly updates are put together by folks deep in the crypto scene, giving you a clear picture of what's happening without overwhelming you.
To Watch This Week
AIRDROPS + ALPHAAug 2, 2024
Law and Order
Man Pleads Guilty to Theft After Crypto.com Refunded His Partner $6 Million Instead of $65
Centralized exchange Crypto.com accidentally refunded a woman $6.8 million (approximately $10.47 million Australian dollars) instead of $65. She and her partner then withdrew and spent the money. Now, three years later, he pled guilty alongside his partner for theft of $4.42 million, as reported by NewsWire. Jatinder Singh tried to deposit $65 into his Crypto.com account back in May 2021 using his partner’s bank account. Due to the name discrepancy between the exchange and bank account, Crypto.c...
May 23, 2024
Markets
Little Known Meme Coin CorgiAI Up 60%, Flips Pepecoin and Memecoin
A relatively unknown meme coin, CorgiAI, has become the eighth largest meme coin by market cap according to CoinGecko. The token flipped Pepecoin, Memecoin, and TRUMP by skyrocketing 60% over the past 24 hours and 102% over the past week. CorgiAI is within flipping distance of Book of Meme, with a market capitalization of over $800 million, according to CronoScan. This figure is similar to what is reported on CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap, although the latter indicates it has been self-reported by...
Jul 14, 2023
Business
Kraken, Crypto.com Join Coinbase in Relisting XRP After Court Ruling
More major exchanges have reintroduced XRP to their platforms, following a U.S. court ruling on Thursday morning. Kraken, Crypto.com, and Bitstamp have all greenlit trading of the cryptocurrency, which is the native token of the Ripple protocol after Coinbase did the same. The rush to make XRP available again to U.S. users comes in the wake of a partial ruling in the Securities and Exchange Commission's case against Ripple Lab. Federal district judge Analisa Torres ruled that the XRP token “is n...
Jun 23, 2023
Business
Spain Gives Crypto.com Green Light to Set Up Shop
Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com today announced that it has received a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration from the Bank of Spain. The approval means that the Singapore-based platform will be able to “offer a suite of its products and services to users in Spain.” Spain’s central bank decides which platforms can legally trade digital assets in the country. The country has to comply with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation—set to become law next year....
Jun 19, 2023
Business
Crypto.com Is Trading on Its Own Exchange, Insists That’s Totally Fine
Crypto.com has some of its team trading tokens for profit, according to a newspaper report today. The Financial Times reported Monday that the Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange operates proprietary trading and market making teams. The report cites five unnamed people with direct knowledge of the company’s trading desk. The exchange told Decrypt that it does not rely on proprietary trading as a source of revenue, like the FT claimed. And it told FT that it was “not a controversial practice...
Mar 30, 2023
Business
Matt Damon Says He Did Crypto.Com Ad Due to 'Down Year' at Clean Water Foundation
Matt Damon shed light on his appearance in the 2021 Crypto.com ad advertisement, saying in a recent interview that the main reason for him becoming the face of the crypto firm’s marketing campaign was to get financial support for water.org, the clean water project he co-founded with philanthropist Gary White. “We had a down year in water.org and I did that commercial in an attempt to raise money for water.org,” Damon said in an interview with the Associated Press. The 52-year-old Hollywood icon...
Jan 13, 2023
Business
Crypto.com Cuts Workforce for Third Time Since June
Crypto winter continues to bite. Days after Coinbase announced slashing its workforce, Crypto.com revealed today that it too would reduce its global staff by 20%. The Singapore-based crypto exchange had conducted layoffs in June and again in August. In a letter sent to employees and shared on social media, Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek said several factors, including ongoing economic headwinds and unforeseen industry events, played into the decision to reduce headcount. As I sha...
Dec 20, 2022
The Landscape
What Are Proof of Reserves And Why Do They Matter?
Proof of reserves has been the talk of the town in the wake of the FTX collapse, with the investor community demanding exchanges provide attestations of their crypto holdings. But what exactly are they, and why do they matter? Proof of reserves (PoR) refers to a method of verifying that a trading platform or crypto firm does indeed have 1:1 backing across the digital assets it holds in custody on behalf of its customers. Firms will often turn to a third-party organization to conduct the att...
Nov 14, 2022
Business
Crypto.com CEO Says 'Business as Usual' After Revelations of 'Accidental' $400M Transfer
Another high-profile crypto exchange known for lavish spending during last year's bull market is in trouble as users question the health of its finances—and make the irresistible parallel to the recently imploded FTX exchange. But Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek says not to worry: all is solvent and above board. “Our platform is performing business as usual,” Marszalek said in an AMA posted to Twitter on Sunday. “People are depositing, people are withdrawing, people are trading, there’s pretty m...
Nov 9, 2022
Business
Crypto.com Pauses Withdrawals of USDC and USDT on Solana
Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com wrote to customers today in an email seen by Decrypt to notify them that all deposits and withdrawals for Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC have been suspended on the Solana network. The pause is effective immediately, but the email did not explain why the exchange chose to suspend these transfers. The two stablecoins, USDT and USDC, exist on almost every blockchain, and the suspension only applies to users looking to move either asset on Solana. "You may withdra...
Sep 29, 2022
Business
Crypto.com Targeted in Latest Round of Lazarus Group's Fake Job Scams
Crypto exchange Crypto.com is the latest target of a fraudulent job advertisement scheme by the North Korean-linked hacker group Lazarus. The malware attack encourages members of the crypto community to download a PDF document showcasing the open vacancies at Crypto.com including a Singapore-based Art Director role, among others, according to a report from cyber security firm Sentinel One. When the interested candidate proceeds to download the PDF job description, they unknowingly fall victim...
Aug 17, 2022
Business
Crypto.com Earns Regulatory Approval to Operate in the UK
Crypto.com today announced regulatory approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to act as a crypto business. According to the FCA filing, the exchange is registered under FORIS DAX UK LIMITED. With this approval in hand, the firm also meets local anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Kris Marszalek, CEO and co-founder of Crypto.com, said in the official announcement: “We are committed to the UK market and we look forward to developing our platform and presence in the UK further...
Aug 8, 2022
Business
Crypto.com Expands Into South Korea Via Two New Acquisitions
As many industry players look to recover from hefty losses, Crypto.com is turning to greener pastures in South Korea. On Monday, the Singapore-based crypto platform announced the acquisition of PnLink Co. and OK-Bit Co., a payment provider and a digital asset exchange, respectively. According to Bloomberg, this means that Crypto.com has also secured a deal with the electronic financial transaction act, an act that creates a “foundation for the sound development of the electronic financial indus...
Jun 3, 2022
Business
NBA Crypto Sponsorship Spending Increased 7,300% This Season: Report
If you watched the first game of the 2022 NBA Finals on Thursday, then you likely spotted a few crypto industry company logos along the way — including Coinbase, Crypto.com, and FTX. A new Axios Pro Media Deals report provides the numbers behind this season’s rise in the NBA’s crypto tie-ups, pointing to a more than 7,300% rise in crypto sponsorship spending over the previous season. The report cites data from IEG showing that the NBA saw an increase in crypto company sponsorship dollars from ju...
Feb 10, 2022
Business
Crypto.com Snaps Up Naming Rights to F1 Miami Grand Prix
Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has signed a nine-year deal to become the official title partner of the Miami Grand Prix, the newest race in the Formula 1 calendar. According to a press release accompanying the announcement, the sponsorship will see the race officially named the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, with Crypto.com's logo featuring on the podium and winners' trophies. The newest event on the Formula 1 calendar, the race forms round five of this year's campaign and takes plac...
Feb 4, 2022
Business
South Park Takes On Matt Damon's Crypto.com Commercial
South Park returned for its 25th season premiere Wednesday and wasted no time skewering Matt Damon's recent commercial for Crypto.com. In the episode "Pajama Day," the elementary school class loses its right to wear pajamas to school, which quickly escalates into a standoff between pajama-wearing residents of South Park and their non-pajama-wearing neighbors. As the class tries to find a solution, they repeatedly riff on the tagline from Damon's recent—and widely mocked—commercial for cryptocurr...
Jan 20, 2022
Business
Crypto.com Confirms Exchange Lost Nearly $34M to Hackers
Crypto.com, the industry's fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange, finally admitted it lost user funds due to a recent security breach. According to a blog post published on Thursday, the incident affected a total of 483 users, resulting in unauthorized withdrawals totaling 4,836.26 Ethereum, 443.93 Bitcoin, and approximately$66,200 in other cryptocurrencies, or roughly $33.84 million in current prices. Singapore-based Crypto.com announced it was pausing withdrawals after "a small number of user...
Jan 18, 2022
Business
Crypto.com Suffers Hack for At Least $15M in Ethereum
Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has reportedly fallen victim to a hack, with at least $15 million worth of Ethereum stolen. Despite reports of missing funds, the platform has yet to confirm that it has indeed been attacked. With almost $3 billion in trading volume in the last 24 hours, Crypto.com is the industry’s fourth-largest centralized crypto exchange, according to CoinGecko. A household name in Asian markets, the Singapore-based exchange recently spent $700 million to buy the naming rig...
Jan 5, 2022
Business
UK Advertising Watchdog Bans Two Crypto.com Ads
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned two advertisements belonging to crypto exchange Crypto.com, per a ruling published today. The two ads were “in-app” ads. The first, seen in September 2021, appeared on the Daily Mail app—an app for one of the UK’s most popular newspapers. “Buy Bitcoin with credit card instantly,” it read. The second ad, seen in July 2021, appeared in the Love Balls app—a mobile game available on the iTunes App Store. The ad initially said users could...
Dec 1, 2021
Business
Crypto.com to Acquire Two Exchanges in First Half of 2022
Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has announced a sale and purchase agreement to acquire two exchanges in the first half of next year. The exchanges are the North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex)—a U.S.-based exchange and clearinghouse offering derivatives products—and a platform called the Small Exchange—a futures exchange aimed at retail customers. “Our goal as a platform is to offer our customers a trusted, secure, and regulated platform with world-class tools to achieve financial ind...