Crypto.com’s Cronos Freefall – The Cryptonomist

As we know, after the most recent events that further worsened an already bearish market phase, many crypto have been affected, including Cronos (CRO), the utility token of cryptocurrency exchange platform Crypto.com. 

Indeed, in recent weeks, Cronos has plummeted, registering declines of up to 50%, starting at a price of $0.11 on 8 November and hitting a low of $0.05 on 14 November. 

Therefore, CRO does not escape three of the many casualties that followed the collapse of the FTX exchange, which also registered significant declines for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum or companies such as Genesis and BlockFi. 

CEO of Crypto.com provides reassurance, but price trend continues to be a concern 

Kris Marszalek, CEO of the Crypto.com exchange, recently reassured his customers about the $1 billion in capital the exchange moved to FTX, claiming that it has been fully recovered. 

In addition, the CEO stressed that the company’s exposure is only $10 million.

In fact, Marszalek told users that the exchange will not stop withdrawals and denied the words of those who accused him of using the exchange’s native token as collateral for his loans.

In any case, it is worth noting, experts say that cryptocurrencies will continue to fluctuate as a result of the continued impact of the bear market and now exacerbated by the knock-on effect caused by FTX. 

However, while the collapse of FTX has no impact on Crypto.com’s ability to operate or profitability, experts argue, the price of Cronos has been and still is in free fall. This latter factor worries investors and has created no small amount of distrust in the crypto market in general.

As anticipated, the price of Cronos reached its low on the day of 14 November, more or less a week after the FTX collapse, registering a low of $0.05. 

However, only two days later, on 16 November, the price seemed to rebound and rise again, reaching around $0.07. Throughout the week, the price of CRO remained more or less stable, continuing to fluctuate between $0.06 and $0.07 until Saturday, 19 November. 

The change over the past seven days was -6.24%. To understand the significant drop in the price of Cronos, it is important to remember that on 8 November, when FTX closed withdrawals and the resulting rush of sales triggered the market downturn, CRO recorded a price of $0.11. 

Today, on the day of 21 November, the price of Cronos is about $0.06, with a 24-hour trading volume of $38.63M. Specifically, CRO is at -7.49% in the last 24 hours. It is currently at -15.53% from the 7-day high of $0.07, and 3.18% from the 7-day low of $0.06. 

Not only Cronos, here’s who else has been severely affected after FTX 

The collapse of FTX brought the entire crypto sector to its knees, leading to worrying price drops not only for Cronos. Specifically, bad fortunes befell Genesis, the institutional trading company. 

Which, on 11 November, claimed to have $175 million locked up within its FTX trading account. However, the trading firm clarified that this exposure is not material to the business and will not hinder its operations. Further specifying that this factor has no impact on its market-making activities.

Genesis is also joined by crypto lending company BlockFi, which admitted to having significant exposure to FTX and associated corporate entities. However, the company denied rumors that most of its assets are held in the FTX exchange. 

Also on 11 November, BlockFi restricted activity on its platform and stopped customer withdrawals, advising customers not to deposit into BlockFi wallets or interest accounts.

Only Nexo, the digital platform that offers cryptocurrency loans, recently stated that it had granted a small loan to Alameda Research. Although, the company stressed that the amount was less than 0.5% of total assets. 

Apparently, the loan was fully collateralized by digital assets and was sold according to a statement. In addition, the company managed to avoid a potential $219 million loss by withdrawing the entire amount from the FTX exchange.

Beyond these situations taken in depth, generally speaking, the FTX bankruptcy file estimates that the exchange has more than 1 million creditors. So, the situation is critical for many companies adhering to the crypto world. 

Although a recovery is possible, since this is not the first time the market has found itself in critical situations, it is difficult to estimate how and when this will happen, since each situation is unique and, notably, the situation of the FTX exchange is one of a kind.