Étienne Girard
Cronos, the Layer 1 blockchain linked to Crypto.com, has approved a governance proposal to reissue 70 billion CRO tokens ($5.6 billion) that were previously burned in 2021. However, the decision has sparked controversy due to the heavy influence of Crypto.com-affiliated validators.
With this approval, the total CRO supply returns to its original 100 billion cap, and the newly issued tokens will be placed in a strategic reserve wallet under a multi-year vesting schedule.
The proposal’s approval comes as Crypto.com moves forward with plans to file for a CRO-based exchange-traded fund (ETF), aiming to attract institutional investors.
Voting data from Mintscan indicates that while independent validators largely opposed the measure, a handful of major validators closely affiliated with Crypto.com swayed the outcome.
“Tomorrow, Cronos goes from a $2.5 billion market cap to an $8.5 billion market cap with a single vote, and all it needed was a single voter. Decentralization doesn’t matter—until it does.”
— Andre Cronje, co-founder of Sonic
Concerns Over Centralization and Last-Minute Vote Surge
Critics have pointed out that in the final moments of the voting period, a sudden influx of 3.35 billion CRO tokens shifted the balance in favor of the proposal. This raised concerns over centralization and governance transparency within the Cronos ecosystem.
Initially, the vote was struggling to meet the 33% quorum requirement, with yes and no votes nearly equal. However, a late surge of votes pushed participation above 70%, securing approval.
Breakdown of Voting Results
According to Mintscan, the final vote distribution was:
- 62.1% voted in favor
- 17.6% voted against
- 20.1% abstained
- 0.11% vetoed the proposal
The decisive votes came from large validators linked to Crypto.com, including Electron, Antares, and Minotaur IV, leading some community members to question whether the proposal was truly community-driven or dictated by corporate interests.
As the newly issued CRO tokens enter circulation, market participants will be closely watching the impact on Cronos’ ecosystem, token value, and investor sentiment in the coming months.
