Crypto.com's Re-minting of Cronos Tokens Sparks Community Outrage

Crypto.com has provoked widespread anger within the community due to its decision to re-mint 70 billion Cronos (CRO) tokens, a move that was criticized by on-chain detective ZachXBT and raised questions about Truth Media's partnership with the exchange. This collaboration has contributed to a 30% increase in CRO's value.

ZachXBT recently shared on X that Crypto.com had reissued 70 billion Cronos (CRO) tokens, which had been previously burned in 2021. This decision increased the total supply of CRO back to its original amount of 100 billion tokens. The decision was made through a governance vote, with 77.97% of participants opposing it, while only 11.86% supported it. However, as the 11.86% held 70-80% of the total voting power, the proposal was approved.

The re-issued tokens have been placed in the Cronos Strategic Reserve with the aim of promoting CRO adoption. These tokens will be subjected to a new lockup period of 5 years, in addition to the previous 5-year lockup period that has already passed since CRO was first issued on Ethereum (ETH). This means the total time these tokens will be locked is now 10 years. The re-issued tokens will be gradually released through a native Cosmos SDK vesting account mechanism on the Cronos POS chain.

Despite the lockup period and vesting schedule, the re-issuance of the burned CRO has caused significant community backlash, as these tokens were intended to be burned "forever."

ZachXBT criticized the move, stating, "CRO is no different from a scam." He also questioned Truth's decision to partner with the exchange instead of Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, or others.

"My initial thoughts: massive dilution. Selfishness from the company as no one from the community would benefit from it," an anonymous large CRO holder told Unchained.

"A burn is a burn, burned tokens should not be brought back to life. I'm almost never against anything happening on Cronos, but today, I'm against it, big time!," wrote Crypto.com ambassador Wyll Bilderberg.

"We want a lean, efficient tokenomics model that prioritizes burns to drive value, not a bloated supply dressed up as 'strategy.'" said LEGION, a Cronos builder.

Despite the negative response from the community, CRO has risen by 30% over the past week following the re-issuance of tokens. In the past 24 hours alone, CRO has increased by 28%, with trading volume soaring 1,357% to over $295 million. This surge appears to be driven by Crypto.com's partnership with Truth Media Group, as the announcement hinted at a potential Cronos ETF.

The partnership, which was announced on March 24, immediately caused a rally in CRO, which broke out of its consolidation range of around $0.07 - $0.08 and surged to $0.12 by March 25. However, it has since dropped to $0.10 at the time of writing.

The significant increase in CRO's price despite community backlash suggests that speculative interest is currently driving the market. However, while short-term traders may be profiting from the rally, the long-term consequences of reissuing 70 billion CRO remain uncertain.

As sentiment fluctuates between optimism and skepticism, CRO's future performance will likely depend on whether Crypto.com can effectively utilize its expanded treasury to promote genuine adoption—or if the re-minting decision will merely dilute the supply and ultimately exert downward pressure on CRO price.