Cronos (CRO)

Cronos is the smart-contract network that grew out of the Crypto.com exchange token: before the rebrand the coin was called Crypto.com Coin and lived as a contract on Ethereum before migrating to a chain of its own. That chain is assembled on Cosmos tooling while also executing contracts written for the Ethereum Virtual Machine, and it exchanges assets with related networks over the inter-blockchain communication protocol. It is open to outside developers, and the applications on it are the familiar ones.

CRO carries two unrelated roles, and that is its distinguishing feature. On-chain it pays for transactions and backs validators. Inside the exchange it unlocks fee discounts, payment-card tiers and access to particular products, so a share of demand is set by one company's commercial policy rather than by network usage.

The token's fortunes are therefore tied to the exchange: changes to the loyalty programme reach holders directly, bypassing anything the network decides.

Part of the demand for CRO comes not from the network but from the exchange's loyalty programme — a company decision that can be changed.