Crypto.com suspended withdrawals this week after a small number of users reporting suspicious activity on their accounts, claiming “all funds are safe” – but not before security firm Peckshield reported losses amounting to “about US$15 million”.
The Singapore-based exchange stopped withdrawals on January 17 in response to several “thefts” reported by customers. One of them was Dogecoin (DOGE) founder Billy Markus, who noticed a suspicious transaction pattern on Etherscan.
Several hours later, Crypto.com issued an update advising users were required to sign back into their accounts and reset their two-factor authentication (2FA).
However, crypto enthusiast and jeweller Ben Baller claimed his account had been breached to the tune of 4.28 ETH (about US$15,000). Baller tweeted he had used 2FA to sign back in, so it appears the perpetrators must have bypassed some of Crypto.com’s security features:
I messaged yah guys hours ago about my account having 4.28ETH stolen out of nowhere and I’m also wondering how they got passed the 2FA?
At around 16:00 UTC, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek tweeted that final checks were being made prior to withdrawals being resumed within the following hour, reiterating that “all funds were safe”.
Update: final checks, we are working to resume withdrawals in the next 30-60 mins. https://t.co/4Gj3ZZ873A
In July last year, exchanges suspended Bitcoin SV (BSV) following double-spending attacks registered on the coin’s network. Developers of the BSV network had identified a wallet address that was linked with a history of illegal activities, including ransomware. The attacker had tried to mask double-spending of coins by causing block re-organisation attacks, which usually occurs when miners work together to remove previously confirmed blocks from the blockchain.
According to a media release from the Victoria State Government, Crypto.com, one of the world’s fastest growing cryptocurrency platforms, has chosen Melbourne for its Australian headquarters.
Victoria the ‘Blockchain Powerhouse’
The Singapore-based crypto giant says its choice will “enhance Victoria’s reputation as an emerging blockchain powerhouse” along with the rest of Australia making major strides in the crypto race. Just recently, Chainalysis opened a new office in Canberra in response to an increase in adoption of and demand for its products.
Melbourne was [also] recently selected as the host for the largest blockchain series [of meetings] in the world – The World Blockchain Summit 2022 – and is emerging as a location of choice for global companies operating in this space.
Crypto.com’s move comes after the Australian Treasury recently announced it would begin to implement crypto regulation, hopefully clearing the murky water crypto businesses currently try to work in.
Due to the nature of Crypto.com’s work and rapid expansion, the company requires a highly skilled workforce to build blockchain applications and services that can operate globally.
Victoria’s Tech Sector Attracts Crypto Companies
Victoria’s tech sector contributes more than A$38 billion to the state’s economy annually and supports more than 139,000 workers across 20,000 businesses.
The state Minister for Economic Development, Tim Pallas, announced that Crypto.com would set up its Australian headquarters to focus on collaboration with globally renowned Victorian universities to increase the company’s technical development capabilities.
Melbourne’s tech ecosystem is an ideal base for Crypto.com to continue to grow, develop innovative services and access world-class talent.
Karl Mohan, Asia-Pacific general manager, Crypto.com
As more crypto giants emerge, they will seek to establish themselves in places that provide regulatory, economic, and political stability. If Australia continues on this trajectory, it may well carve a space for itself as an industry leader.
CRO, the native token of the crypto exchange Crypto.com, has surged by more than 1000 percent in 2021 and is now worth almost US$1, with a current price of $0.89 at time of writing.
What’s Driving the CRO Price?
Data from Messari shows the token has been on the green this year, with three-month returns exceeding 533 percent gains. Its total market cap is now above US$23 billion, with 24hr trading volumes nearing US$300 million.
Crypto.com has been doing a lot for the crypto space lately in terms of partnerships, appearances, deals with high-profile companies in traditional finance, even jumping into the sports industry.
Sports Partnerships and Naming Rights
The main drivers of this rally are Crypto.com numerous sports partnerships this year and becoming the first crypto exchange to pass the SOC 2 test, which is an internationally recognised standard in traditional finance.
The Staples Center – home of the iconic NBA team Los Angeles Lakers – will be renamed Crypto.com Arena after the exchange bought the naming rights. This in itself caused the CRO token to surge over 91 percent in later hours.
Moreover, Crypto.com announced yesterday that it has become the first crypto trading firm to comply with SOC 2 standards. This, the firm says, reassures its position as a trustworthy company for its users.
🔒 Security First: The world’s most secure crypto platform is now even more secure.
The SOC (Security Organisation Control) 2 is an internal report that attests to the trustworthiness of a company’s information practices, security, procedures and integrity.
NFT Marketplace Assembles Big Names
In early 2021, Crypto.com hooked up with important names from several industries, collaborating with the likes of Lionel Richie, Snoop Dogg, the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, and more. The resulting NFT platform is now one of the top marketplaces for NFT collectors and content creators.
Launch of Free Crypto Tax Software in Australia
The crypto exchange has also been helping Aussies with their crypto tax obligations. Three months ago, Crypto.com launched a crypto tax software package in the country backed by professional tax advisers to facilitate the filing of crypto taxes at no cost.
News of Crypto.com securing naming rights to Los Angeles’ iconic Staples Center has seen the price of the exchange’s coin (CRO) soar, hitting an all-time high of just below US$0.57.
We're extremely proud to announce that Staples Center, Los Angeles' most iconic arena is getting a new name:
Crypto.com announced on November 16 that it had entered a 20-year partnership with sports entertainment company AEG, which owns and operates the Staples Center – home to four professional sports teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Kings, and a premier venue for concerts, special events and awards shows, including the Grammy Awards.
renaming the Staples Center to Crypto.com Arena, effective December 25;
Crypto.com featured across the venue via branding and signage throughout the interior and exterior of the facility; and
Crypto.com becoming an official cryptocurrency platform partner of NBA team the LA Lakers and NHL team the LA Kings.
Commenting on the agreement, Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek said:
We’re very excited about partnering with AEG and investing long-term in this city, starting with Crypto.com Arena in the heart of downtown, and using our platform in new and creative ways so that cryptocurrency can power the future of world-class sports, entertainment and technology for fans in LA and around the world.
Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO, Crypto.com
Todd Goldstein, chief revenue officer of AEG, added:
This partnership represents the fastest-growing cryptocurrency platform and the biggest sports and live entertainment company in the world converging to drive the future of sports and live entertainment as well as the incredible legacy of this arena for decades to come.
Todd Goldstein, chief revenue officer, AEG
The CRO token increased in value earlier this month after being listed on Coinbase, reaching almost US$0.40 within two days after tracking sideways under $0.20 previously.
It seems Crypto.com’s aggressive marketing and focus on sporting sponsorships is paying off. The exchange also partners with the UFC, Formula 1, and in September signed a deal with French football powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain.
AUSTRALIA, November 17, 2021: Independent research commissioned by Crypto.com, the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency platform, has found that crypto-centric gifts will feature prominently under the Christmas tree in Australian homes this year.
Highlights:
More than a quarter (26%) of Australians plan to buy crypto-centric gifts for Christmas this year.
Two-thirds of Australians are likely to shop online for their Christmas purchases.
8% aim to use tech-forward payment options like cryptocurrencies or crypto-enabled cards to pay for Christmas gifts (starting from a zero base).
Survey Results
The Crypto.com survey of more than 2,000 Australians aged between 18 and 59 who have engaged with a cryptocurrency in the last 12 months found that 26% are planning to buy crypto-centric gifts this holiday season.
The survey, conducted in October 2021, showed a majority of this group of respondents were under 44 years old, and over half of them said they would consider buying actual crypto coins, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as gifts.
“Australians are clearly very keen to adopt cryptocurrencies and integrate their use into day-to-day spending, and we’re excited about helping them,” said Karl Mohan, General Manager for Asia-Pacific (APAC) for Crypto.com.
The survey found crypto merchandise such as crypto-themed socks and hoodies could also become trendy this Christmas, with 43% of those planning to buy crypto-centric gifts looking for these items.
Around 42% of Australians were considering coin vouchers and 35% crypto books for Christmas gifts, while 30% said they would look at buying non-fungible tokens (NFTs) such as NFT art, NBA top shot, or Axie Infinity gaming tokens.
Despite crypto being a relatively new way to make payments for goods, nearly 8% admitted they will use tech-forward options such as cryptocurrency or a crypto-linked card to pay for Christmas gifts this year. This compares with 1 in 3 who plan to use buy now, pay later (BNPL) services.
Among the respondents to Crypto.com’s survey, 13% admitted to having used cryptocurrency for payments during the past 12 months.
“Australians are gradually increasing their use of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and Crypto.com is committed to ensuring they have a secure platform and the tools needed to take control of their futures,” Mr Mohan said.
Crypto.com is focused on increasing the practical use of cryptocurrency in everyday life by offering the easiest, most secure and regulatorily compliant crypto platform. In Australia it offers the Crypto.com Visa Card, the world’s most popular crypto-linked card, available in more than 30 countries.
Online spending surge
The survey also found that online shopping was likely to be the most popular choice for Christmas purchases this year, with 67% of the survey respondents favouring this option.
The internet is growing in popularity because Australians were either worried about going to crowded places due to COVID-19 (22.6%), found it more convenient (33%), or were looking to take advantage of the deals available on various online marketplaces such as Facebook and eBay (12%).
The remaining 1 in 3 are still keen on hitting the malls or supporting local businesses via in-store shopping.
Aussies ready to use crypto more widely
According to the survey, many Australians are happy to use cryptocurrencies as part of their everyday lives, with two-thirds of respondents agreeing that crypto has alternative uses other than as part of an investment portfolio.
The most popular use cases these respondents saw for crypto was in making local or international payments (65%), while 41% rated crypto as a store of value, and 33.5% agreed crypto was a useful way to earn staking rewards. Staking rewards are a form of interest paid on stored crypto holdings.
Just under a third (31%) said cryptocurrencies were good to buy digital collectibles or NFTs.
Almost half of the survey’s respondents (47%), when asked to rate the importance of having a debit card to spend their crypto at any given location, rated it 7 or above out of 10.
NFTs gaining interest
While 1 in 4 Australians currently own an NFT, a further 21% in the survey confirmed they’re looking to jump on the NFT bandwagon.
Contrary to popular belief, the popularity of NFTs was highest among 35 to 44-year-olds as opposed to 18 to 24-year-olds, and among those who own NFTs the largest cohort is in the 40 to 44-year-old age group, and the same goes for those who are looking to buy in future.
Likewise, 35-39-year-olds are the most prominent among those who rate digital collectibles or NFTs as a key user case of crypto.
Wary of scams, security remains key
Australians remain very security and cost conscious when it comes to using cryptocurrencies. Eight in 10 respondents (81%) said security was an important criterion when choosing where to buy crypto, while 78% said they looked for low fees.
Volatility and scams were also key concerns, with six in 10 (64%) respondents citing market volatility as a key issue, while close to half (47%) were worried about unscrupulous activity and scams. A further four in 10 (41%) said the lack of acceptance of cryptocurrencies by traditional finance sources was a concern.
“We are hopeful that with greater regulation imminent, and with more traditional financial institutions foraying into cryptocurrency, some of those concerns will be addressed. We see this as highly encouraging not only for crypto businesses like us, but more importantly for Australians interested in the cryptocurrency space,” added Mr Mohan.
“Security is a top priority for Australian customers, and rightfully so, given crypto is still an emerging and maturing asset class. To that effect, Crypto.com has applied the highest standard in security management by obtaining ISO certification and industry’s largest insurance cover at US$750m to protect our customers’ money and trust.”
Crypto.com, which recently launched a global brand campaign starring Matt Damon, is set to accelerate its growth in Australia starting with the Crypto.com Visa Card, which seamlessly bridges the traditional financial world with crypto, making it the safest and most accessible way for users to tap into the future of finance.
The company supports a wide range of customers, with the Crypto.com App for those new to crypto, the Crypto.com Exchange for experienced traders, DeFi Wallet for experienced crypto enthusiasts who want self-custody of their crypto, and Crypto.com NFT where some of the world’s most popular artists, entertainers and athletes connect with their fans.
Crypto.com’s CRO token is now available on the Coinbase.com exchange and the value of the asset has increased as a result, hitting a new all-time high of almost US$0.40. On November 4, after listing on Coinbase, it pumped to US$0.39 within two days after months of tracking sideways under US$0.20.
CRO is ranked the 28th-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalisation of almost US$9 billion. Boasting more than 10 million global users, Crypto.com is among the world’s five biggest centralised exchanges and has been growing fast.
Crypto.com’s new advertising campaign includes celebrity partnerships with Matt Damon’s Water.org, and team sponsorships for UFC, Formula 1 and French football powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain, which aims to establish the brand in front of a wider mainstream audience and bring crypto to the masses.
Aggressive Marketing Campaign
This classy high-budget commercial (see below), featuring A-list actor Damon, is an example of the strong video marketing the brand is using as part of its promotional campaign to aggressively grow Crypto.com’s presence and establish the exchange as a top player in the cryptocurrency marketplace.
Following the successful launches of Crypto.com Tax in Australia, Canada and the US earlier in August, Crypto.com has announced that this service is now also available in the UK, with more markets to come.
Crypto.com Tax makes it easy to file complicated crypto taxes in a matter of minutes and at no cost. This service is tailored to meet UK tax requirements and supports more than 20 of the largest wallets and exchanges, including the Crypto.com App and Exchange.
We’re excited to expand our free-to-use crypto tax reporting service to Australia. We have long been committed to offering the most compliant and easy-to-use crypto platform in the world. As part of that commitment, we are proud to offer all Australian crypto investors an easy solution to filing their taxes. More markets will be added soon.
Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO, Crypto.com
Crypto.com Tax enables users to quickly generate accurate and organised tax reports, including transaction history and records of capital gains and losses, as well as other crypto-related taxable and non-taxable transactions.
Crypto.com has worked with professional tax advisers to make sure that the calculation logic is consistent with available guidance and laws for filing crypto taxes in the UK.
Helpful Facts About UK Tax Rules 2020/21 Tax Year: April 2020 – April 2021 Paper Returns Deadline: October 31, 2021 Online Tax Returns Deadline: January 31, 2022 UK Tax Logic: Share Pooling
About Crypto.com
Founded in 2016, Crypto.com today serves over 10 million customers with the world’s fastest growing crypto app, along with the Crypto.com Visa Card – the world’s largest crypto card program – the Crypto.com Exchange and Crypto.com DeFi Wallet. Recently launched, Crypto.com NFT is the premier platform for collecting and trading NFTs, carefully curated from the worlds of art, design, entertainment and sports.
Crypto.com is built on a solid foundation of security, privacy and compliance and is the first cryptocurrency company in the world to have ISO/IEC 27701:2019, CCSS Level 3, ISO27001:2013 and PCI:DSS 3.2.1, Level 1 compliance, and independently assessed at Tier 4, the highest level for both NIST Cybersecurity and Privacy Frameworks.
With over 2,600 people in offices across the Americas, Europe and Asia, Crypto.com is accelerating the world’s transition to cryptocurrency. Find out more at: https://crypto.com
Renowned European football club Paris Saint-Germain has signed a multi-year deal worth up to 30 million euro (US$35 million) with Crypto.com to make the exchange its official cryptocurrency platform partner.
The partnership will be celebrated by the release of exclusive Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on Crypto.com’s native NFT platform.
According to a blog post from Crypto.com, it has partnered with PSG with the exchange paying a large part of the sponsorship in Crypto.com coin (CRO), its native cryptocurrency.
🤩 We're thrilled to announce https://t.co/vCNztABJoG and Paris Saint-Germain have signed a multi-year deal
⚽️ First Crypto Platform Partner ⚽️ Release of exclusive #NFTs ⚽️ Special rewards for https://t.co/vCNztABJoG users
As of September 17, the PSG fan token will be available for purchase by fans on Crypto.com. The token recently surged almost 62 percent after superstar Lionel Messi left Barcelona FC to join Paris Saint-Germain. Messi was reportedly paid up to US$35 million worth of the PSG fan token as part of his “welcome package” to the French club.
Our mission since day one has been to accelerate the world’s transition to cryptocurrency. We do so by finding the best partners in the world, and Paris Saint-Germain is second to none … Between the brand visibility, stadium and team access, and collaborative development of NFTs, I have no doubt we’ll create new and exciting experiences for football fans around the world.
Kris Marszalek, Crypto.com co-founder/CEO
Crypto.com Takes a Shot at Football After Partnering With Other Major Sports
Crypto.com has led the industry in sports partnerships, recently announcing global deals with the UFC, Formula One and Lega Serie A. The exchange became the first crypto platform to partner with an F1 team and an NHL team, and through its new partnership with PSG it aims to bring crypto to the fans.
PSG is the most successful club in French football, with an overall trophy count of 44 including seven of the last nine championships in France’s top professional league.
With this partnership, Paris Saint-Germain demonstrates once more its vision and leadership as a pioneer in areas such as lifestyle, esports and digital. It is an exciting time for cryptocurrency and we cannot wait to work with Crypto.com to bring new experiences to all of the club’s fans.
Marc Armstrong, chief partnerships officer, Paris Saint-Germain
In this guide we will show you how to get your crypto data imported and organised all in one place ready to send to your accountant to help with your tax return.
Firstly, go to Crypto.com Tax webpage and sign up for free.
Once you’ve signed up and logged in, you’ll need to add the crypto exchanges & wallets that you use. In this example, we’ll use Coinjar exchange.
Click Wallets & Exchanges and then Add Wallet/Exchange +.
Select CoinJar, enter a name for your exchange ie CoinJar Personal Account, then select API Sync and confirm.
You’ll be prompted to login into CoinJar to give read only access and then it will redirect you back to crypto.com website.
The data sync could take a couple of minutes to complete. Once it’s done you might see that there are transaction issues that need fixing. To fix these click the Issues tab and then purchase history transactions or uncategorised.
Click Edit to update the details of the transactions to fix any issues.
In the case of missing purchase history errors (in red), this could be that the fee isn’t being picked up. In this case, the BTC was purchased with a fee included in the amount.
In this case, you can just ignore this error. We’ll confirm with Crypto.com but it seems this error is incorrect.
Fixing transaction issues
To fix any outstanding issues with the transactions you can filter them by date or issue type.
An important one to do is the Uncategorised transactions. Use the filter to show them, and then click Edit.
Then enter the details for the transaction. In this example, it was a transfer from one exchange to another. If the other exchange is not added, then you’ll need to add it to select it. If you don’t know what the fees were then you’ll need to find the blockchain transaction; you can find the transaction id on your Coinjar history.
Generating tax reports
Once you’ve fixed up all the outstanding issues you can generate your tax reports by clicking Tax Reports.
This will export your tax reports into CSV format, which you can then send to your accountant to help prepare your tax return.
Tax software is an extremely hard thing to build as there are so many moving parts, and you may encounter errors when importing from different exchanges and wallets. We will try to update the section below to help diagnose and fix these errors.
Custom Data Import Error
When importing custom data (Crypto.com Tax CSV), we encountered this error.
“Invalid amount format in csv report: null”
If you’re using the Crypto.com Tax CSV format, then use the sample template CSV and check the supported values for each column are correct as per the instructions on the Data Import help article.
Failed API Sync Error
When connecting CoinJar we encountered this error:
“Sync failed. Please try again”
To fix this simply click the Sync button. After clicking it, wait a minute or so and if it fails, repeat the click and wait again until it works.
In its latest multi-year sports deal, Crypto.com becomes the first Innovation & Technology Partner of Italian football. This means it will be involved in every broadcast moment where technology enhances a match, as the official presenting partner of Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) and Goal Line Technology.
As part of the deal, Lega Serie A’s VAR Centre in Lissone, Lombardy will be co-branded as the “Crypto.com VAR Centre”. In addition, Crypto.com will present the Lega Serie A Goal of the Month.
Lega Serie A was the first sports league in the world to introduce VAR technology in 2017, and the 2020/2021 season saw a total of 2,372 incidents where VAR technology was required. VAR interventions are included in Lega Serie A’s global broadcasts reaching more than 775 million TV households in more than 150 countries.
With over 10 million users worldwide, Crypto.com is a top-10 finance app in both the App Store and Google Play and its Visa card is the world’s most popular crypto card, available in more than 30 countries.
Football Feels the Crypto.com Love
This year the company also announced global partnerships with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Formula One racing, and became the first crypto platform to partner with a National Hockey League (NHL) team, the Montreal Canadiens. Now it’s football’s turn to feel the Crypto.com love.
“Since its introduction, VAR has brought greater transparency and reliability to football, features we value deeply at Crypto.com,” says its co-founder and CEO, Kris Marszalek.
We are extremely proud to deepen our partnership with Lega Serie A to enhance the fan experience with technology and innovation at the core.
Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO, Crypto.com
Building on the success of the NFT collection Lega Serie A and Crypto.com created for this year’s Coppa Italia, new NFT collections related to Serie A, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana will be developed as a result of the new partnership.
