Crypto.com Faces Backlash After Controversial Vote to Reverse 70B CRO Token Burn

Crypto.com is facing a storm of criticism after a controversial vote led to the reversal of a 70 billion CRO token burn on its Cronos blockchain.

Crypto.com faces a storm of criticism after a controversial vote led to the reversal of a 70 billion CRO token burn on its Cronos blockchain. The decision has sparked concerns about vote manipulation, with many in the community accusing the company of undermining decentralization efforts.

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek spoke about the company’s financial stability amidst the growing controversy surrounding the re-issuance of the 70 billion CRO tokens. This move effectively cancels the massive token burn announced in 2021, which was part of a plan to decentralize the network ahead of the CRO mainnet launch.

The 2021 token burn, initially hailed as "the largest token burn in history," aimed to reduce the CRO supply, with 59.6 billion tokens burned immediately. The remaining tokens were set aside for future burns, rewards, and ecosystem development.

However, earlier this year, Crypto.com announced plans to re-issue the 70 billion burned CRO tokens into a strategic reserve. The move sparked outrage, with many community members questioning why Crypto.com didn’t use its profits to buy back tokens from the market to support its loyal users or donate to charities.

The decision to bring back the burned tokens was made more accessible on March 2 with a proposal for a Cronos Strategic Reserve, which would re-issue the tokens into an escrow wallet, bringing the total supply back to 100 billion CRO. The vote needed a two-thirds majority to pass and would see the strategic reserve used to fund the Cronos ecosystem over the next 24 months.

The vote was met with massive amounts of negative feedback, with many users stating that the re-issuance goes against the community’s wishes and that the proposal is a scam. Despite this, the vote passed, with 99.68% of voters voting in favor of the proposal, although only 6,289 out of a possible 660,000 voted. This sparked suspicions of vote manipulation.

The $5 billion plan, based on CRO’s current price of $0.08, is said to boost U.S. crypto dominance, fund ecosystem growth, and launch a CRO exchange-traded fund (ETF).

However, many fear it undermines the 2021 burn, which drove CRO’s price from $0.06 to $0.25 by reducing token supply. A supporter of the burn highlighted how it sparked a community movement.

“It was THE talking point. It had everyone discussing. People were making memes, articles, and engaging with each installment of the burn series. It brought the community together.”

But critics see the proposal as a betrayal of that moment, arguing that bringing back burned tokens dilutes value and damages trust. One community member stated that it would be better to "use the money to buy back tokens and distribute them to users." Another added, "It's a shame to see Crypto.com making such short-sighted decisions."

Those accusations come as one report claims that Crypto.com holds too much control over the vote. According to TokenInsight, the company controls 70%–80% of the total voting power, which makes the vote outcome almost a foregone conclusion.

The report also notes that Crypto.com’s vote is decisive in reaching the two-thirds majority required to pass the proposal. Despite the community’s strong opposition, the report states that the company is likely to outvote the community members.

In response to the backlash, Crypto.com announced an upcoming AMA (ask-me-anything) event on March 25, where executives will answer questions from the community. The token burn issue is expected to dominate the discussion.