The name says it all, really. In the increasingly crowded world of cryptocurrencies and DeFi services, you’d be forgiven for thinking that any platform that managed to secure the domain name ‘crypto.com‘ must be the go-to service in the arena.

While there may be some truth to that, we’re going to take a careful look at Crypto.com, highlight some of its advantages and disadvantages and see if the name really means as much as it should. First of all, though…

Crypto.com is an exchange that allows you to buy, sell, and store over 250 different cryptocurrencies at a relatively low cost. As well as granting you access to the Bitcoins and Ethers of the world, it also allows you to trade NFTs, invest in its native CRO token and venture into rather more exotic order types like crypto futures.

Beyond its all-encompassing nature, there are several distinct benefits to using Crypto.com that make it a popular and appealing platform.

Like most exchanges, Crypto.com uses maker-taker fees to boost market liquidity. This means you pay a different trading fee depending on whether your crypto order is ‘making’ liquidity or ‘taking’ it. So, for example, if the crypto asset you want to trade is currently unavailable, you’ll be charged a reduced ‘maker’ fee because your pending order is increasing market liquidity.

Conversely, if your order is fulfilled immediately, you’ll be charged a higher ‘taker’ fee as you’re removing liquidity. With Crypto.com‘s ‘maker’ fees ranging from 0.4% to 0.04% depending on the trading volume and ‘taker’ fees ranging from 0.04% to 0.1%, they’re certainly competitive, although not necessarily the cheapest.

However, further discounts are available on these fees if you hold a minimum of 5,000 CRO in your wallet. With that amount, you get a 10% reduction in transaction fees, the reductions rising to 100% if you hold more than 50 billion CRO (an unlikely amount to hold, admittedly). That said, with no additional per-trade fees, no charges to deposit funds in your account and free crypto-to-crypto exchanges, the platform provides a remarkably affordable way to trade.

Much like a rewards card, Crypto.com offers a range of prepaid Visa cards that allow you to conveniently spend your cryptocurrency holdings. That said, the rewards the cards pay depend greatly on whether you hold any of the platform’s CRO tokens. With the Visa cards coming in five varieties, the entry-level card, ‘Midnight Blue’, requires no CRO staking, while the most rewarding card, ‘Obsidian’, is only obtainable with a $500,000 CRO stake.

While each of the cards offers rebates on services like Netflix and Spotify and ‘cash back’ of anywhere from 1% to 8%, it should be noted that the 8% figure is only available if you hold around $400,000 worth of CRO. What’s more, the term ‘cash back’ is technically more ‘crypto back’ with your rewards paid in CRO tokens — and their value can vary dramatically.

More than just a platform on which to trade cryptos, you can also earn interest on your holdings, the rates you receive depending on which currency you’re invested in, how long you keep the holdings, and how much CRO you’ve staked. However, even the platform’s lowest interest rates are an improvement of the rates you’ll currently receive from traditional bank savings accounts. While the potential to earn interest rates in excess of 10% is there, you’ll need to hold a considerable amount of CRO in order to gain these rates.

Aside from the need to hold CRO tokens in order to get the best deals, the upsides to Crypto.com are fairly solid. Fine — so what are the downsides?

With the platform offering so many different services, it can be hard to navigate, especially for newcomers unfamiliar with crypto terminology. Complicating things further is the fact that Crypto.com’s exchange and its app are entirely different entities. You’d think the app would just be a way of accessing the exchange; however, you’d be wrong — and it can get confusing. Although it’s a relatively simple task to transfer funds between the app and the exchange, you can’t directly fund your exchange account with fiat. What’s more, you may need to hold CRO tokens on both the app and the exchange if you want to gain access to all the platform’s benefits.

Although the platform offers 24/7 customer support via email, live chat and a help page, there’s no phone support, which can get frustrating. Not only that, but many customers complain that the support the platform offers is slow to arrive and often ineffective. With Crypto.com currently holding 2.1 stars out of 5 on Trustpilot, the platform might not be the ideal choice if you’re a crypto newcomer who may need help along the way.

If you want to trade effectively on Crypto.com, you will have to arrive fully armed with all the knowledge you need beforehand. The platform is most definitely geared toward the experienced investor with very few educational resources. Although the site offers some basic details about the currencies on offer, you will need to do all your research and strategic thinking independently.

If you’re an experienced hand at crypto trading, then Crypto.com has a lot going for it. While the need to hold CRO can be a limiting factor when it comes to getting the best out of the platform, at its most basic level, Crypto.com offers an affordable way to trade almost any cryptocurrency you can think of.

That said, it’s pretty clear that the platform’s disadvantages center around a general lack of concern for the newcomer. As a result, if you’re just starting in the crypto space, you may want to look at other platforms like Gemini and Coinbase, which are far simpler to use and come with a wide selection of resources, tips and guides for beginners. And don’t forget to look at our others posts about personal financial management.

Perhaps Crypto.com should have stuck with its original name, ‘Monaco’ — a place that only really works for you if you’re already a financial wizard.