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Crypto.com pulled the plug on its multi-billion dollar digital asset treasury stock plan over the weekend, blaming rough market conditions. The cancellation lands alongside reward cuts for cardholders, a string of executive exits, and a CRO token that’s down roughly 70% over the past year. Not a great stretch.
The DAT stock — short for digital asset treasury — was supposed to be the largest publicly traded CRO treasury company in the world. CEO Kris Marszalek had talked it up as a landmark move, one he expected would make Crypto.com the single biggest holder of CRO anywhere. The company had already changed its stock ticker from YORK to MCGA, a nod to Trump’s MAGA slogan, as part of the prep work for the deal. All of that is now gone. The cancellation also killed a related arrangement where Crypto.com was set to service ETFs through Yorkville America, the firm tied to that MCGA ticker. Two deals, one weekend, both dead.
Cardholders Take the Hit
The reward cuts are real and they’re coming fast. Starting October 1, the cashback rate on the “Ruby” tier drops from 2% to 1.5%, and the monthly rewards cap falls from $1,250 to $750. The “Icy White” tier loses its unlimited 4% cashback — it’s getting capped at 3.5% on up to $3,000 in monthly spending. That’s a pretty meaningful change for heavy users who built their spending habits around those rates.
And it doesn’t stop there. Staking rewards for CRO tokens are getting cut too, effective September 10. The Pro lock-up tier falls from 4% to 3%. The Private tier drops harder — from 9% to 6%. Cardholders are frustrated, and it’s not hard to see why. Their tokens are locked, the terms keep shifting, and the company hasn’t said much publicly about where any of this is heading. Crypto.com didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The pattern here isn’t new. Back in May 2022, Crypto.com slashed CRO card rewards suddenly and faced significant user backlash, eventually walking back part of the cut. The fact that it’s happening again — and more broadly — probably won’t reassure the people still holding CRO in staking contracts right now.
Executives Out, Legal Fights In
The executive departures are piling up. Chief Legal Officer Nick Lundgren resigned in April and joined a competitor within weeks. Chief Marketing Officer Steven Kalifowitz — the guy behind the Crypto.com Arena naming deal — stepped down on June 30. Chris Fargis, who ran the prediction markets division, left on July 10. Three senior exits in roughly three months.
Those departures follow a March decision to cut the workforce by 12%, which worked out to around 180 jobs. So the company is smaller, lighter on leadership, and dealing with more legal exposure than it probably wants right now.
The derivatives arm is in a legal fight with Washington state’s attorney general over whether Crypto.com’s sports prediction markets violate state gambling laws. The company’s position is that federal law protects those markets from state-level regulation. That case is still active, and it’s unclear how it resolves or how long it drags on.
On August 2, the platform went down. Crypto deposits and withdrawals were suspended temporarily across all networks — lasted a few hours. The company said funds stayed secure during the outage. But for a platform already dealing with trust questions, the timing wasn’t great.
CRO Token Keeps Sliding
The CRO token is sitting near $0.047. That’s down about 48% this year alone, and it’s roughly 95% below its peak from November 2021. The drop is steep by any measure. Holders who staked during the boom years are looking at a very different picture now, especially with staking yields also getting trimmed.
The broader crypto market has had its own turbulence, so CRO isn’t alone in underperforming from 2021 highs. But the combination of reward cuts, leadership turnover, a failed stock deal, and an ongoing legal battle gives CRO a specific set of headwinds that go beyond general market conditions. It’s hard to separate the token’s slide from the company’s operational noise.
Crypto.com hasn’t outlined what comes next strategically. No replacement plan for the DAT stock has been announced. No new executive hires have been named publicly to fill the gaps left by Lundgren, Kalifowitz, or Fargis. The company’s silence on most of these fronts is pretty much the loudest thing it’s said lately.
The Ruby tier cashback cap drops to $750 per month starting October 1.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Crypto.com cancel its DAT stock plan?
Crypto.com cited challenging market conditions for scrapping the digital asset treasury stock, which was intended to be the largest publicly traded CRO treasury company in the world.
How are Crypto.com staking rewards changing in September?
Effective September 10, the Pro lock-up tier drops from 4% to 3% and the Private tier falls from 9% to 6%.
