What is Crypto.com? Firm Restarts Staking Rewards After Community Uproar

Sign up with your email and never miss another crypto and NFT story from the Philippines and beyond!

Crypto exchange Crypto.com revives its staking rewards a day after it announced severe reductions to Cronos (CRO) staking rewards for most tiers of its VISA prepaid card. The removal of its rewards program was followed by a vocal backlash among community members, forcing the token price to fall around 30% in less than a week. 

Crypto.com users have been vocal on various social media platforms in expressing their dislike of the exchange’s decision that rewards would no longer be offered to cardholders after the completion of the current 180-day period.

https://twitter.com/devchart/status/1520785605189320709

“I’m going to continue to use the card for the remainder of my staking period and then unstake and say goodbye to the card,” a Reddit user wrote.

What is the benefit of even using the https://t.co/hd6xaDvTNz platform now? Low staking rewards, crappy Visa card. Can someone tell me what's left to be bullish about?

— Red Coin (@r3d_c01n) May 1, 2022

https://t.co/u1790twjql is slashing their STAKING REWARDS. Thoughts?

— Steven Clarke (@StevenClarkeRE) May 1, 2022

Aside from the backlash, the prices of CRO fell 11% hours after the rewards decision. However, after the restarted rewards program CRO’s value went back up to 6%, as of writing, according to digital market analysis provider CoinGecko.

“The community has been really vocal with regards to the changes to the card program announced yesterday. We care deeply about the community, we hear you & always listen to you. As a result, we’re revising card staking rates.” – Kris Marszalek, Crypto.com

In a tweet, Marszalek added that instead of eliminating card stacking earn rates completely, “we will offer a more balanced approach: 8% APY for Private Members (Obsidian, Icy White, and Frosted Rose Gold)  4% APY for Royal Indigo and Jade Green card holders.”

These are of course tough decisions — nobody wants benefits to be reduced, least of all me. Given our large scale though, it is necessary to ensure long-term sustainability.

— Kris | Crypto.com (@kris) May 3, 2022

All of these started with a blog post published last May 1st, explaining that Crypto.com would reduce rewards on the usage of its Visa-enabled cards based on the tiers offered. Lower tiers (such as Midnight Blue and Ruby Steel) would get 0%, Royal Indigo and Jade Green would get 0.5%, Icy White and Frosted Rose Gold would get 1%, while Obsidian, the highest tier, would get just 2%.

Crypto.com’s Visa prepaid cards allow users to load up supported cryptocurrencies or stablecoins and spend fiat at Visa merchants. 

This article is published on BitPinas: What is Crypto.com? Firm Restarts Staking Rewards After Community Uproar

Disclaimer: BitPinas articles and its external content are not financial advice. The team serves to deliver independent, unbiased news to provide information for Philippine-crypto and beyond.