Popular cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has removed 15 cryptocurrencies from its Crypto Earn rewards program, including leading meme-inspired cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin ($DOGE) and Shiba Inu ($SHIB).
The platform announced the removal of these 15 cryptocurrencies along with the inclusion of three new cryptocurrencies: Zilliqa ($ZIL), Fantom (4FTM), and $NEAR, which allow for rewards rates of up to 5% and 6% a year, if users have over $4,000 of the platform’s native $CRO to lock up.
Along with the removal of several cryptoassets, Crypto.com changed the reward rates for five stablecoins tracking the value of the British Pound, the Australian Dollar, the Canadian Dollar, and the U.S. dollar to flexible savings amounts as low as 0.1%, which some users compared to the annual percentage rates seen in traditional financial platforms.
Crypto.com’s move to lower rewards in these stablecoins – TGBP, TAUD, TCAD, TUSD, and USDP – comes amid a cryptocurrency bear market that has seen several lenders struggle with liquidity. Celsius Network has halted withdrawals and is said to be considering filing for bankruptcy, while Babel Finance and crypto exchange CoinFLEX halted withdrawals and are eyeing recovery plans.
Digital asset broker Voyager Digital has relied on a $500 million line of credit from Alameda, am Bankman-Fried’s quantitative trading firm, while BlockFi, another crypto lender, received a $250 million revolving credit facility from the firm.
Crypto.com did not say why it removed the tokens it did. Reacting to the announcement, some users expressed concern SHIB and DOGE rewards were no longer an option on the platform, while others criticized the cryptocurrency exchange’s low interest rates on stablecoins.
Others, however, argued Crypto.com is moving toward “long term sustainability” and praised the platform for swiftly adapting to market conditions.
The rewards change comes shortly after Crypto.com announced the integration of Apple Pay onto its platform, allowing users to purchase cryptoassets through the payment method. While the price of CRO initially surged on the Apple Pay announcement, it dropped after DOGE and SHIB were dropped from the rewards program.
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