Cronos

What is Cronos (CRO)?

Cronos, formerly known as the Crypto.org Coin, is the native token of the Cronos Chain. The Cronos Chain is the blockchain run by the Crypto.com cryptocurrency exchange.

Part of the Crypto.com vision of “putting cryptocurrency in every wallet”, the Cronos Chain is based on the Cosmos SDK. Among other things, this makes Cronos compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

It also supports Inter-Blockchain Communications (IBC), meaning that it is interoperable with both the Ethereum and Cosmos networks.

The Cronos Chain runs in parallel with the Crypto.org blockchain, and CRO serves as the native token for both blockchains.

When Was Cronos Launched?

CRO launched in late 2018 as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, although it now acts as a native token on both the Cronos Chain and the Crypto.org chain.

Crypto.com was established two years prior, leveraging its prestigious domain to try and drive mass adoption of cryptocurrency.

Originally founded as Monaco Technologies, Crypto.com is attempting to reposition itself as a full-fledged financial company with a full suite of product offerings in the areas of payment, trading, financial services, and metaverse.

Crypto.com’s first blockchain was the Crypto.org chain, built on the Cosmos SDK and utilizing the native token CRO, then known as the Crypto.org Coin.

The Cronos Chain, meanwhile, is also based on the Cosmos SDK. However, it is EVM-compatible in order to allow Ethereum-based decentralized applications to migrate to Cronos.

Why was Cronos renamed?

The Cronos Chain launched in November 2021, marking the deployment of Crypto.com’s second blockchain. Prior to that, the Crypto.org chain was the organization’s standalone blockchain, and the Crypto.org Coin was its native token.

Part of the reason for the rebranding was to reflect the increasing decentralization of the network. The move came as the CRO token saw significant appreciation in line with major marketing moves taken by Crypto.com.

However, the deployment of the Cronos Chain saw the company also move to line up the branding of its popular token with its new blockchain.

The Cronos Chain broke new ground thanks to its interoperability with both Ethereum and Cosmos. This enables the Cronos Chain to support the rapid porting of dApps and smart contracts from Ethereum to Cronos.

Who are the Founders of Cronos?

Cronos, or rather the organization behind it, Crypto.com, was initially known as “Monaco.” It is operated by Singapore-based Foris DAX Asia, a subsidiary of Foris DAX MT (Malta) Limited.

Its founders are:

• Kris Marszalek, a serial entrepreneur who founded and led three companies prior to Crypto.com. Currently, Marszalek is the CEO of Crypto.com.
• Rafael Melo, an engineering graduate with a decade and a half of experience in finance who is currently the CFO of Crypto.com.
• Bobby Bao, a veteran of the M&A field, currently head of Crypto.com Capital.
• Gary Or, an experienced full-stack developer and co-founder of a mobile app development firm, Foris.

How Does Cronos Work?

The Cronos Chain is the first Ethereum-compatible blockchain network built on Cosmos SDK technology and therefore also compatible with Cosmos IBC.

Thanks to all of this interoperability, CRO allows for bridging between Ethereum and Cronos, providing a decentralized, open-source, public blockchain with high speed and low fees. All of these benefits are meant to attract developers to port their platforms from Ethereum to Cronos.

Simply put, the Cronos Chain is designed for dApps and smart contracts. The Crypto.org chain, on the other hand, is a less generalized platform designed to power Crypto.com’s growing suite of financial products.

What Makes Cronos Unique?

Aside from its unique position as the first Ethereum and Cosmos-compatible blockchain, Cronos owes a lot to Cosmos for the benefits it offers.

Thanks to Cosmos’ Tendermint consensus, the Cronos Chain can process more transactions per second than most other public blockchains. This allows for low fees and high throughput, making Cronos a very high-performance blockchain for users.

Another of Tendermint’s features is fast finality, with Cronos confirming transactions as fast as it can produce blocks. This means transactions are done and dusted in five or six seconds on Cronos.

How is the Cronos Network Secured?

The Cronos network is secured by a proof-of-authority consensus mechanism supported by Tendermint Core.

Tendermint, which is based on Byzantine Fault Tolerance developed by Cosmos founder Jae Kwon, replicates an application on many machines. On top of that, it is resilient even if a full one-third of nodes fail.

One of the unique features of Cosmos’ Zones, compared to other sidechain systems like Polkadot’s Parachains, is that blockchains built on Cosmos SDK (called Zones) are responsible for their own security.

What is the Use of CRO?

CRO was originally used as an ERC-20 reward token, but, with the deployment of its own blockchains, Crypto-com was able to add to CRO’s utility.

CRO can be used as an intermediary currency, utilized to convert crypto into fiat at affordable rates. It also lets users claim higher cashback and better benefits from Crypto.com’s range of VISA cards.

In fact, Crypto.com’s lucrative rebates on spending with its VISA cards have been one of the biggest drivers of demand for the CRO token.

CRO is also used to pay for transactions on both the Cronos Chain and the Crypto.org blockchain, as well as for trading fees on the Crypto.com exchange.

As a proof-of-stake network, CRO can also be staked to operate nodes and participate in network governance. This can be done using various wallets or on the Crypto.com exchange.

Staking CRO allows users to earn over 10% APY as well as token rewards for select listings on the Crypto.com exchange.

Who Controls Cronos?

Cronos, the cryptocurrency, and both the Cronos Chain and Crypto.org blockchains are controlled by the Crypto.com team, headed by founder and CEO Kris Marszalek.

How Much CRO Is In Circulation?

The total supply of CRO was 100 billion CRO, all of which was created at launch. 70 billion CRO were burned in 2021.

40% of the remaining 30 billion CRO is set aside for a capital reserve and long-term network incentives, and it is frozen until November 2022. A further 10% is set aside for community development, and 20% for ecosystem grants.

The remaining 30% counts for secondary distribution and the launch incentives that have been released in batches since November 2018.

How Do You Buy Cronos?

The best place to buy CRO is from within its own ecosystem. The Crypto.com platform is a full-fledged cryptocurrency exchange for mobile devices.

However, CRO is also available on other major exchanges. You can purchase Cronos on decentralized exchanges on Ethereum as well as within the Cosmos and Cronos ecosystems.

Is It Possible to Buy CRO Instantly?

Purchasing CRO on an exchange, especially Crypto.com, is a fast and seamless process.

However, an exchange account is a custodial account. This means that you are trusting a third party, in this case, an exchange, to take custody of the assets you own.

Purchasing CRO on an exchange, therefore, is an instant process, but that’s because you haven’t actually bought any. User accounts simply reflect the trades you make, and settlement only occurs when you withdraw the currency to a private, non-custodial wallet.

How Do You Store CRO?

One of the most convenient places to store CRO is within the Cronos ecosystem. It includes two non-custodial wallets, the Crypto.com DeFi Wallet and the Crypto.org Chain Desktop Wallet.

Depending on the operating system of your mobile device, you can download the Crypto.com DeFi Wallet from Google Play or the App Store. It can also take the form of a browser extension.

You can withdraw CRO from exchanges, including the Crypto.com app, to the Crypto.org chain, Cronos Chain, or Ethereum via the ERC-20 network.

On Ethereum and Cronos (which is Ethereum compatible), wallet addresses will be prefixed by “0x,” while on Crypto.org, wallet addresses have the prefix “cro.”

Cronos Energy Consumption

Proof-of-authority as a consensus mechanism has drawn many critics, given that it relies on a limited number of validators and is therefore a relatively centralized method.

However, Cronos is geared to leverage the Crypto.com brand and ecosystem. Its proponents argue that it is no less decentralized than competitors like the Binance blockchain.

One of PoA’s great benefits, however, is that the system is very energy efficient thanks to its limited number of validators. It needs to power just the hardware of the validating nodes to remain secure.

Is CRO a Good Investment?

Investing in CRO is seen by many as a bet on the long-term success of the Crypto.com project.

2021 was a landmark year for the company, which saw it at the centre of several major advertising campaigns. The most notable was the $700 million deal to rename the iconic Staples Centre in downtown Los Angeles, home of the LA Lakers among other basketball franchises, to “Crypto.com Arena”.

The burning of 70% of its 100 billion CRO supply also aided in the significant appreciation of the CRO token. However, as the cryptocurrency market started to turn downward in 2022, certain moves, like rate changes on Crypto.com VISA cards, drew backlash from the community.

Still, Crypto.com remains a big name in the cryptocurrency industry. All indicators point to the company continuing to add value and, therefore, growth potential to their native CRO token.