Crypto.com Isn’t Publicly Traded, Has Its Own Token for Investors

Between its Matt Damon commercials and its Staples Center naming rights, Crypto.com is becoming more visible by the day. You might be tempted to invest in the cryptocurrency platform. Crypto.com is a private company and it isn't publicly traded. However, the Crypto.com Coin ($CRO) is tradable.

Yes, Crypto.com has its own cryptocurrency token, and the token’s price has been soaring in a so-called “Staples Center Rally” after the company acquired the naming rights to the famed Los Angeles venue.

In an indication of just how quickly the cryptocurrency market has taken off, it was just four years ago that the Crypto.com domain belonged to University of Pennsylvania computer science professor Matt Blaze. In 2018, Blaze sold the domain to a cryptocurrency and credit card company called Monaco, according to the Financial Times.

“Somehow, the word ‘crypto’ has recently acquired an alternative new meaning, as a somewhat unfortunate shorthand for digital currencies such as Bitcoin,” Blaze lamented in his blog post announcing the domain sale.

Monaco morphed into Crypto.com, a company with 3,000 employees and offices in Singapore, Malta, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, The New York Times reports. Now, the company touts itself to be “the world’s largest crypto currency platform.”

On Nov. 17, Crypto.com announced that it acquired the naming rights for the Staples Center—home of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. Crypto.com brokered a deal with AEG, which is the sports and entertainment company that owns and operates the arena. Crypto.com is paying a reported $700 million for the deal, according to the Times, and the new name will go into effect on Christmas Day.

“Known as the Creative Capital of the World, the city of Los Angeles and the people who call it home have always been pioneers, pushing the boundaries and innovating as the undeniable global leaders of culture and entertainment,” Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said in a press release. “We’re very excited about partnering with AEG and investing long term in this city, starting with Crypto.com Arena in the heart of downtown.”

The news comes eight months after crypto platform FTX agreed to pay $135 million for the naming rights of the venue formerly known as American Airlines Arena in Miami.

In what Cryptoglobe dubbed a “Staples Center Rally,” the Crypto.com Coin surged in the days after the naming-rights announcement and reached $0.85 on Nov. 21—about twice its price from a week prior.

“It might seem strange that the token is moving on the type of news that would normally affect stock market assets,” The Motley Fool's Anders Bylund wrote. “But this token plays many crucial roles in Crypto.com's actual operations, so it stands to reason that the cryptocurrency should gain in value as the underlying business operation grows.”