Crypto.com (CCC:CRO-USD) has been on a winning streak. After winning Hollywood A-lister Matt Damon over as its spokesperson, it launched a slew of primetime commercial spots in the fall. Then, just before the holidays, the platform bought the naming rights to the Staples Center in a polarizing moment for one of the most iconic venues in all of sports. And thanks to these catalysts, the Crypto.com Coin saw astonishing gains. Of course, it can’t keep the good times rolling forever; CRO is on the downswing today as the first major bout of adversity crashes into the platform in the form of a hack.
Indeed, CRO has seen a monumental boom since early last year. It began 2021 trading at just 6 cents per coin. But as the year progressed, the crypto industry saw users come in droves, and they sought out the best exchanges for buying their crypto. The ensuing exchange war saw platforms rushing to get exposure among new investors.
Crypto.com was one exchange that saw the greatest outcome to this exchange war; its commercial featuring actor Matt Damon drew much attention, be it for better or for worse. It took things a step further just ahead of the new year with the rollout of Crypto.com Arena, the newly rebranded Staples Center, which it paid $700 million for. Over this time, CRO saw its price explode; that 6-cent value became 97 cents — representing growth of 1,500%.
Crypto.com Coin Continues Paring Losses After Platform Hack
Heading into the new year, Crypto.com Coin was simply unable to retain its gains. The Crypto.com Arena name change was able to boost the coin’s value by 20 cents at the time, but it is paring losses in the days since. And with today’s news, those losses are starting to look justifiable to CRO bears.
Indeed, a hack of the Crypto.com platform today is sending fear into some of the coin’s investors. The hackers went in and stole $15 million worth of Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD) from the exchange. One can see the stolen funds being laundered through a crypto-mixing service called Tornado Cash. Meanwhile, the platform is slow to acknowledge the scope of the hack; a brief trading pause was instituted just after the hack, with the platform downplaying this multi-million dollar hack as “suspicious activity.” The project’s CEO took to Twitter some time later to further assess the situation, reporting that no customer funds were stolen, but remaining silent on the missing $15 million in ETH.
As the crypto world continues to digest what happened with the exchange, CRO is continuing its downward momentum today. The coin is losing nearly 4% as we get into the week, dropping to about 43 cents. It’s worth noting, though, that trading volume is on the rise; with over $152 million worth of CRO trading hands, the volume is an increase of over 40% on yesterday’s volume.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
