Trump Media looks past Crypto.com red flags to launch new partnership

This morning, Donald Trump’s publicly-traded Truth Social operator announced that it has picked Crypto.com as a launch partner for ETFs containing bitcoin (BTC), Cronos (CRO), and other crypto assets “with a Made in America focus.”

The partnership is curious for many reasons, not least of all Crypto.com’s very not-Made-in-America history in Asia and Europe.

CEO Kris Marszalek spent most of his career in Singapore and Hong Kong, and Crypto.com’s current world headquarters is in Singapore. (Its North American division has a headquarters in Texas.)

The giant crypto exchange once offered a debit card powered by Germany-based Wirecard and established a regional headquarters in France.

However, Crypto.com’s non-USA operations are far less interesting than its dubious financial history. 

Un-burning CRO to inflate the supply 156%

Just this month, a Crypto.com subsidiary proposed the reversal of its 70 billion CRO token burn. That would not only renege on a promise but more than double today’s circulating supply of approximately 27.4 billion.

This incredible reversal of a 2021 promise will supposedly help with “Making America the world capital of crypto.”

That about-face on one of the most important characteristics of a crypto asset — its supply — is just the latest example of Crypto.com making dubious promises.

Read more: Crypto.com added to alert list in Poland months after Dutch bank fine

For example, the company once promised and then declined to submit audited proof of reserves after Mazars Group distanced itself from one of its attestations.

Not only did a formal audit never arrive, but the exchange has subsequently failed to release weaker proof of reserves since 2022.

The company also once advertised up to 8% cashback on debit card purchases and 12% rewards for people who staked large amounts of CRO. These rewards, however, would never compensate someone who staked CRO near its peak price of $0.98 on November 24, 2021.

Around that time, Crypto.com announced its intention to rename the Los Angeles Lakers’ stadium.

CRO is still more than 85% below that all-time high, even after today’s 30% news pump on its Donald Trump-associated ETF announcement.

CRO is good enough for Trump, apparently

Today, blockchain sleuths are dredging up Crypto.com’s historical misdeeds in light of today’s Donald Trump-related news.

Examples include the company once choosing Wirecard as a card issuer before that company declared insolvency in June 2020. Wirecard is now widely regarded as one of the biggest frauds in German history.

In 2009, a judge called Marszalek’s testimony unreliable. Elsewhere, Marszalek also led a multi-million dollar company that failed entirely in 2016.

Understandably enraged about this month’s reversal of a community vote to force 156% dilution onto token holders, people were bewildered that the president of the United States would partner with the company and choose its token for an ostensibly “Made in America-focused” ETF.

Protos has reached out to Crypto.com and Trump Media & Technology Group but by publication time had not received a reply.

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