What Crypto.com is
Founded in 2016 in Hong Kong as "Monaco" by Kris Marszalek, Rafael Melo, Gary Or and Bobby Bao, and renamed Crypto.com in 2018, the company is today one of the world's largest crypto ecosystems: a buying and selling app, an exchange, prepaid Visa cards with cashback, earn products and the Cronos blockchain (CRO). Its headquarters is in Singapore (1 Raffles Quay) and the company today reports more than 100 million users and thousands of employees, far beyond the few hundred people and one million users of 2019. Also known for high-profile sports sponsorships (from the Los Angeles arena to Formula 1), it is led by co-founder Kris Marszalek, who since February 2026 has also been pursuing ai.com, his artificial intelligence venture, in parallel. Another co-founder, Rafael Melo, is still CFO; Gary Or was CTO from 2016 to 2020 and then founded Cronos Labs, the organisation developing the Cronos ecosystem, while the CTO in office is Matthew Chan; Bobby Bao, also a co-founder, leads Crypto.com Capital, the group's venture capital arm. (Verified: September 2026)
Regulation and licences
- MiCA: YES — CASP licence issued on 27 January 2025 by the MFSA (Malta): Crypto.com was the first major global operator to obtain a full MiCA licence, valid through passporting across the entire European Economic Area. (Verified: September 2026)
- In February 2026 the European entity added a Limited Financial Institutions licence from the MFSA for services related to electronic money tokens (stablecoins) in the EU. (Verified: September 2026)
- Crypto.com can operate legally even after the expiry of the transitional regime (01/07/2026).
Security
In January 2022 the platform suffered an attack that hit 483 accounts for around 34 million dollars (in ETH, BTC and fiat currencies): the company fully reimbursed the affected users and introduced further safeguards (including mandatory delays on new withdrawal addresses). It is among the sector's companies with the most compliance certifications (ISO 27001, PCI DSS, CCSS). There are no other significant incidents affecting customer funds. (Verified: September 2026)
Alternatives
- Kraken — full MiCA via the Central Bank of Ireland
- Bybit — MiCA via Austria, strong on derivatives
- Bitstamp — MiCA via Luxembourg, today part of Robinhood
FAQ
- Is Crypto.com legal in the EU? Yes: it holds the MiCA licence issued by the Maltese MFSA (27 January 2025), the first granted to a major global operator, valid across the entire European Economic Area even after the July 2026 tightening.
- Has Crypto.com ever been hacked? Yes, in January 2022: around 34 million dollars taken from 483 accounts. All affected users were fully reimbursed.
- Where is Crypto.com based? In Singapore (1 Raffles Quay). The company was born in Hong Kong in 2016, but its headquarters moved years ago.
Verified sources
- https://crypto.com/en-de/company-news/crypto-com-receives-markets-in-crypto-assets-mica-li
- https://crypto.com/en/company-news/cryptocom-receives-limited-financial-institutions-licen
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto.com
- https://theorg.com/org/crypto-com/teams/leadership-team-1
TEAM MEMBERS
LEADERSHIP
HQ OF CRYPTO.COM
Hong Kong
CONTACTS OF CRYPTO.COM
All images, branding and wording are copyright Crypto.com. All content on this page is used for informational purposes only. Spaziocrypto has no affiliation or relationship with the company mentioned on this page.
