Crypto.com was officially launched back in 2016 and has already made its mark in the global crypto space. Accessible in over 90 countries, Crypto.com boasts the support of over 250 cryptocurrencies and the recently NFTs on its platform.

The cryptocurrency exchange runs on its blockchain, the Crypto.org public blockchain, which is set to bolster the future of payments. The native coin of the blockchain is the Cronos (CRO), formerly the Crypto.com coin. The blockchain further supports the Crypto visa card, yield-generating crypto products, and more. The other international exchanges operating in SA include Binance South Africa and Coinbase South Africa.

Crypto.com South Africa

The Crypto.com mobile app stands out as the main platform for crypto exchanges, trading, and other crypto-related activities. Unlike other crypto exchanges like Binance, Kucoin, and Gate.io, Crypto.com focuses on building its mobile app to cover all the required features customers would get from a web-based experience.

Mobile users can buy, sell, trade, and earn interest on the crypto assets that they hold with an option to use crypto for payments. The Crypto.com mobile app can also connect to the Defi Wallet mobile app from the same exchange.

The Crypto.com app is available on both the Apple Store and Android’s Google Play. Currently, it has an average 4-star customer rating on IOS and 3.5-star on Google Play, respectively.

How to Register on Crypto.com in South Africa

The process is pretty intuitive and does not last for more than ten minutes. Here is a breakdown of the registration procedure:

1. Click on the ‘Create Account’ button in the application
2. Fill in your full names, a valid email address, date of birth, and nationality
3. If you wish to enter a referral code from another user, you can enter the code there
4. Agree to Crypto.com terms of service and prove you are not a robot
5. Finally, complete the registration and submit the details

It is common in many other crypto exchanges for user verification and security. Here you will be required to verify your details using your full names, street address, national ID/Passport, and a selfie. The KYC verification can take up to three days. On successful verification, you can now link your preferred payment method, for example, a credit card or bank account.

Withdrawals and deposits

To deposit fiat currency to your Crypto.com wallet, there are two options, bank transfers, and wire transfers. Wire transfers initiated from your bank account take about 1 – 2 business days to credit your fiat wallet. Minimum crypto withdrawal depends on the coin in question. For Bitcoin, withdrawals are capped at 0.0005 $BTC, 0.015 Ethereum (ETH), and 230.0 Cronos (CRO). Make sure you check the current Bitcoin to ZAR price first. Here is a summary of minimum and maximum fiat withdrawals:

    • 100 USD minimum withdrawal or an equivalent amount in a different currency

    • 100, 000 USD maximum withdrawal or the equivalent of a different currency

    • 500, 000 USD monthly maximum withdrawal or the equivalent in a different currency

Crypto.com Trading Fees and Loan Interest Rates

At Crypto.com, unless you trade at large volumes, there are considerable high trading fees of 0.04% up to 0.4%. For credit cards and debit card transactions, the fees are around 2.99% which is considerably high. These fees can be avoided by transferring your fiat money into your Crypto.com account through Alchemy Pay (ACH) for free, with a minimum of $20. Withdrawal charges also apply depending on the type of cryptocurrency. For example, for Bitcoin, the fee is 0.0004 $BTC.

Crypto.com, like other major crypto exchanges, interest can be earned by loaning your crypto assets to other users. The loans are then used to verify the transactions for proof-of-currencies and other uses. An average of 14% p.a can be earned depending on crypto deposits and the amount of their native CRO you hold.

Digital wallet options and security

In Crypto.com, users can connect different wallets to their mobile app, including the Defi wallet, a separate app that offers rewards on tokens in the decentralized applications supported by the Crypto.org Blockchain.

The exchange claims to hold the user’s cryptocurrency assets in ‘cold storage’, meaning that it cannot be accessed from the internet, making it harder to break into and reducing vulnerability to cyber breaches. Fiat currency deposited in the exchange is stored in a regulated bank account as per Crypto.com. In case of a breach that leads to the loss of a user’s assets, Crypto.com claims to have insurance of up to $750 million to cover the losses. Other security measures enforced in the platform include 2-factor authentication with a phone, email, password, and biometric authentications.

Customer Support

Chat-based customer support is mainly offered on the platform to handle minor issues like delayed deposits and withdrawals. Other issues like account cancellation would require email interactions.

However, Crypto.com customer support is wanting, with a slow in-app response and insufficient help on certain matters. This is evident in the customer reviews, with only 3.5-stars in Google Play and Trust Pilot.

Trading support

Crypto.com is not the best at providing relevant information on tokens and coins available for trade. Educational resources remain scarce in the app, and very lean information to help users perform efficient trades shows that it is not the best place for beginners.

Recently, Crypto.com included professional crypto trading charts at the beginning of the year. The exchange also notably lacks crypto trading pairs available on most crypto exchanges.

 Cashback Visa Card

Crypto.com attracts rewards in five ways which depend on how much CRO you hold. Mostly offered on specific services, for example, Spotify, Airbnb, Netflix, and free ATM withdrawals and a range of 1% – 8% cashback on your spending with the best deal requiring you to invest over $400,000 worth of CRO coin. To get the cashback, you will have to convert back to fiat, subject to market fluctuations of the CRO coin.

Other noteworthy features

• Staking and Defi

Like several other exchanges, in Crypto.com, owners of specific cryptocurrencies receive rewards by using their assets to maintain the Crypto.org blockchain network. These are used to validate other transactions in the blockchain.

• NFTs

Crypto.com also recently introduced the Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) market to allow the trade of digital assets like music, art, and films. With the sharp rise in popularity of NFTs, the company has realized large profits. Big-time celebrities like Snoop Dogg and the Aston Martin F1 team have joined the platform, selling art and some of their racing highlight videos.