Crypto.com will slash annual rewards on new CRO lockups by 25% or more beginning September 10. Rewards for the "Obsidian/Private" tier will drop to 6% from 9%, the "Icy/Rose/Private" tier will fall to 5% from 8.5%, and the "Jade/Indigo/Pro" tier will decline to 3% from 4%.
The reduction is the latest chapter in a years-long pattern of roadmap changes, altered promotions, and modified terms affecting holders of Crypto.com's proprietary token and its predecessor Monaco's MCO token.
History of modifications
Monaco's original whitepaper promised an asset contract funded by a 1% fee on certain Monaco Card transactions, with the ability to burn MCO tokens for a proportional share of revenue. By late 2017, Monaco removed that contract from its roadmap, citing regulatory changes, and raised card cashback rates to 2% instead.
On November 20, 2018, Crypto.com announced 60 monthly CRO airdrops for eligible MCO holders scheduled to last five years. The airdrops ended prematurely in June 2019, roughly seven months into the schedule, with more than 50 of the promised monthly distributions never arriving.
In 2020, Crypto.com pushed MCO holders to migrate to CRO and stopped supporting unswapped MCO across its product suite.
Card benefits and rewards reductions
Crypto.com cut cashback rates for cardholders in May 2022 and initially planned to eliminate card staking rewards altogether after 180-day terms expired. Following backlash, the company restored smaller rewards within days and allowed existing users to retain their old rates until expiry.
In 2020, Crypto.com advertised Airbnb, Expedia, and Amazon Prime rebates for its highest card tiers. By 2025, these vendors were removed from Icy, Rose, and Obsidian tier users' rewards programs. The company also eliminated 1% and 2% non-staking spending rewards for cards issued before November 6, 2024.
Lounge access benefits followed a similar pattern. In September 2025, Crypto.com restricted this benefit to customers with an active CRO lockup, stake, or annual subscription. This month, it halved annual visits for Pro users and removed complimentary guest access from Private tiers in most markets.
Token supply reversal
In February 2021, Crypto.com announced a 70 billion CRO token burn program, describing it as a step toward full decentralization. In 2025, the Crypto.com-aligned Cronos described plans to re-mint those 70 billion CRO into a "Strategic Reserve," reversing the burn entirely.
The CRO token has declined 75% over the past year and remains 93% below its all-time high from nearly five years ago.
