A wave of community anger has emerged as Crypto.com re-minted 70 billion Cronos tokens. ZachXBT criticized this action and questioned Truth Media’s choice to collaborate with the exchange, a partnership that has now contributed to a 30% rise in CRO.
In a recent update on X, blockchain investigator ZachXBT condemned Crypto.com for reissuing 70 billion Cronos (CRO) tokens, which had been burned in 2021—thereby restoring the total supply of CRO to its original figure of 100 billion tokens. The decision to reissue the tokens arose from a governance vote, where 77.97% of participants opposed the move, while just 11.86% were in favor. However, this minority group held 70-80% of the total voting power, allowing the proposal to pass.
The reissued tokens have been added to the Cronos Strategic Reserve, aiming to boost CRO adoption. These tokens will face a new five-year lockup period, extending the previous five-year lock that has elapsed since CRO was first issued on Ethereum (ETH). This means the total lock duration is now ten years, and the tokens will be released gradually through a native Cosmos SDK vesting account mechanism on the Cronos POS chain.
Even with the new lockup and vesting timelines, the reissuance of the previously burned CRO has sparked significant backlash from the community, given that these tokens were meant to be permanently removed from circulation.
ZachXBT criticized the reissuance, stating, “CRO is no different from a scam.” He also questioned Truth Media’s choice to partner with this exchange rather than with Coinbase, Kraken, or Gemini.
“My first thoughts: massive dilution. This is selfishness from the company since no one in the community will benefit from it,” remarked one anonymous significant CRO holder to Unchained.
“A burn is a burn; burned tokens shouldn’t be brought back. I’m usually supportive of what’s happening on Cronos, but today, I’m firmly against this!” commented a Crypto.com ambassador Wyll Bilderberg.
“We want an efficient tokenomics model prioritizing burns to enhance value, not a bloated supply disguised as ‘strategy,’” stated LEGION, a builder in the Cronos ecosystem.
Despite the backlash, CRO’s price has jumped 30% in the last week following the token reissuance. In just the past 24 hours, CRO has surged by 28%, with trading volume skyrocketing by 1,357% to exceed $295 million. This rally seems to be motivated by Crypto.com’s partnership with Truth Media Group, hinting at a possible Cronos ETF.
The partnership, announced on March 24, immediately spurred a rally in CRO, pushing it above its consolidation range of approximately $0.07 to $0.08, reaching a high of $0.12 by March 25. However, it has since retraced to around $0.10 at the time of writing.
The notable spike in CRO’s price amidst community uproar indicates that speculative interest is driving the market at the moment. While short-term investors may be taking advantage of the rally, the long-term implications of reissuing the 70 billion CRO tokens remain uncertain.
As sentiments oscillate between hope and skepticism, the future path for CRO will likely hinge on whether Crypto.com can leverage its increased treasury to foster genuine adoption or if the re-minting will dilute supply and put downward pressure on CRO’s price.