01The short verdict
Crypto.com is the kind of app you can use without reading anything: big buttons, glossy card animations and a Bitcoin purchase by credit card in a few taps. That convenience is exactly why so many people search for how to buy on Crypto.com with a card. It has a price, though. The card fee plus the spread costs noticeably more than placing an order on the Exchange. On licensing, it is fully licensed in Singapore and Dubai, only a deemed-licensed applicant in Hong Kong, and absent from the registers in Japan and Taiwan.
Crypto.com at a glance
- Headquarters
- Singapore
- Asian licences
- MAS Major Payment Institution (Foris DAX Asia); Dubai VARA licence VL/23/10/003
- Hong Kong
- deemed-to-be-licensed applicant (Foris DAX HK), not licensed
- Card purchase
- about 2.99% + spread (per published sources; unconfirmed on the official site)
- Products
- app, Exchange (order book), Visa card, Onchain self-custody wallet
- Crypto card
- Visa; Singapore and selected APAC markets
- Not served / not registered
- mainland China; not on the Japan or Taiwan registers
We score Crypto.com 8.0. The app experience and the breadth of products are real strengths, and the Visa card appeals to people who spend on cards anyway. It loses points because the default buying route is expensive, fee information is scattered across products, and its licence status needs checking country by country.
02Licences: Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong all differ
Crypto.com is headquartered in Singapore, and that is its strongest base in Asia. The table shows its status in each market, drawn from regulator registers.
| Market | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore | Licensed | Foris DAX Asia Pte Ltd holds a MAS Major Payment Institution licence. MAS rules bar licensed platforms from accepting locally issued credit cards for crypto and from offering incentives. |
| UAE (Dubai) | Licensed | Foris DAX Middle East FZE holds VARA licence VL/23/10/003, covering exchange services including derivatives. |
| Hong Kong | Deemed-licensed applicant | Foris DAX HK Limited applied on 9 February 2024 and sits on the SFC list as a deemed-to-be-licensed applicant. It is not licensed. |
| South Korea | Local entity | Crypto.com Korea is a registered domestic VASP; the global and Korean services are separate entities. |
| Japan | Not registered | Not on the FSA register. The app is in the Japanese store, but the service scope for residents is unclear. |
| Taiwan | Not registered | Absent from the FSC VASP registration list; the app remains downloadable. |
| India | Not found | The app was not found on Google Play India, and no FIU-IND registration was found. |
| Rest of Southeast Asia | Unlicensed | Not on the local registers in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines or Vietnam. |
| Mainland China | Not served | Crypto trading services are illegal under the 2021 PBoC notice. |
Sources: SFC, VARA, MAS, Japan FSA and FSC Taiwan registers plus published reports. The regulator’s website is authoritative.
03Fees: one-tap app purchase vs the Exchange
Crypto.com’s fees depend on which product you use. Buy in the app is a quote-based flow. Pay by card and, according to several published sources, you pay a fee of about 2.99%, with a spread already inside the quote. We could not confirm the current number on the official site this month, so use it as a guide and trust the payment confirmation screen.
Fund your fiat wallet by local bank transfer first, or trade on the Crypto.com Exchange order book, and the cost drops sharply. Exchange fees are tiered by 30-day volume and CRO holdings and sit far below the card route.
App · card purchase
- Arrives in minutes
- about 2.99% card fee + spread
- Singapore: no local credit cards
- Good for a small first buy
Local deposit + Exchange
- Deposit takes minutes to a day
- Order-book fees that fall with volume
- You need to learn limit orders
- Good for regular or larger buys
Take an office worker in Singapore investing S$500 a month. Funding by SGD bank transfer and buying on the Exchange can, over a year, save more than the card’s cashback is worth. Compare further in our exchange fee comparison and buying crypto with a credit card guide.
Just want to buy a small amount by card and compare what different platforms charge? A card purchase is the most direct route.Visa, Mastercard and Apple Pay · check that the platform serves your country first
Buy with card04How to buy crypto on Crypto.com
- Download the official app
Use only the App Store, Google Play or crypto.com. Check the developer name, and ignore “download links” shared on social media.
- Sign up and complete KYC
Register with email and phone, choose your real country of residence, upload a passport or ID and do the selfie check.
- Set up security
Turn on 2FA, an app passcode or biometrics, and the withdrawal address allowlist.
- Choose how to pay
A Visa or Mastercard card is instant but costs the most. A local bank transfer into the fiat wallet is cheaper; the rails available depend on your region.
- Buy
Tap Buy, pick the coin and amount, check the fee and the amount you will receive on the confirmation screen, then submit.
- Decide where to keep it
Small balances can stay in the app. Larger amounts can go to Crypto.com Onchain, another self-custody wallet or a hardware wallet.
05How to withdraw from Crypto.com
“Withdraw” covers two different operations, and people often mix them up.
Cash to your bank: sell the crypto into fiat (SGD or AED, for example), open the fiat wallet and withdraw to a bank account in your own name. Whether this works and how fast depends on your region’s entity and banking rails. Without a local rail, you cannot withdraw straight to a local bank.
Coins to an outside wallet or exchange: open the crypto wallet, choose the coin, tap Withdraw, enter the address and pick the network. Make sure the receiving side supports the same chain (USDT on TRC-20 and ERC-20 are not interchangeable) and send a small test first. Under the Travel Rule you may need to give the recipient’s details when sending to another exchange, or declare ownership of a self-hosted wallet.
For every cash-out route, including P2P and country-specific banking, see our guide to cashing out crypto.
06The Crypto.com Visa card: is it worth it?
The Crypto.com Visa card is available in Singapore and selected Asia-Pacific markets. The basic tier is free; higher tiers ask you to lock up CRO in exchange for bigger cashback and extras. Our view: if you already use Crypto.com, the basic tier is worth a try. Locking up a large amount of CRO for cashback means taking on that token’s price risk, so think it through. Our crypto cards guide compares the alternatives.
07App and website UX
The Crypto.com app is one of the most polished in the category, with balance, Buy, card and earn products laid out clearly on the home screen. The downside is how much it packs in. Promotional banners, earn products and card perks compete for space, and newcomers can confuse “buy” with “lock up to earn”. The Exchange website is a standard professional trading screen.
Crypto.com appcrypto.com ↗
Polished design and a three-to-four-step purchase; busy with features and promotions, and fee details are scattered.
Crypto.com Exchangecrypto.com ↗
Order-book trading with a complete web terminal and tiered fees.
Crypto.com Onchaincrypto.com ↗
Self-custody wallet (formerly DeFi Wallet): you hold the recovery phrase, separate from your app account.
On security, Crypto.com publishes Merkle-tree proof of reserves like other major platforms and supports 2FA and withdrawal allowlists. Proof of reserves shows asset coverage at one point in time; it is not a full audit. More in our exchange safety guide.
08Pros and cons
Pros
- Fully licensed by MAS in Singapore and VARA in Dubai
- Polished app with a fast beginner purchase
- Visa card available in Singapore and parts of APAC
- Full product set: app, Exchange, self-custody wallet
- Publishes proof of reserves
Cons
- Card purchases cost about 2.99% plus spread
- Only a deemed-licensed applicant in Hong Kong
- Unregistered in Japan, Taiwan and most of Southeast Asia
- Scattered fee information and heavy promotion
- Top card tiers need locked CRO, which carries price risk
Easy and attractive, if you avoid the priciest path
Crypto.com suits users in Singapore and Dubai and anyone keen on a crypto card. A card is fine for your first purchase; for regular buying, fund by local bank transfer or use the Exchange. Hong Kong users should note the difference between deemed-licensed and licensed.
09Crypto.com alternatives
- Simpler and more transparent: our Coinbase review.
- The longest security track record: our Kraken review.
- Another card-purchase option: our CEX.IO review. It takes Visa, Mastercard and Apple Pay but holds no Asian licence and does not accept residents of Japan, Singapore or India.
- Local licensed platforms: see buy crypto in Singapore and buy crypto in the UAE.
See the full best crypto exchanges ranking for more.
FAQ
How do I buy crypto on Crypto.com?
Install the official app, sign up and pass identity verification. Then tap Buy, pick the coin and amount, choose a payment method (card, local bank transfer or your fiat wallet balance) and check the total on the confirmation screen before submitting. Card purchases arrive almost instantly; funding by local bank transfer first is usually cheaper. Payment options depend on where you live.
What is the Crypto.com credit card purchase fee?
Multiple published sources put the Crypto.com app’s card purchase fee at about 2.99%, with a spread built into the quote on top. We could not confirm the current figure on the official site in this check, so treat the payment confirmation screen as final. In Singapore, MAS rules bar licensed platforms from accepting locally issued credit cards for crypto, and some card issuers elsewhere treat purchases as cash advances.
How do I withdraw from Crypto.com to my bank?
Sell the crypto into a currency your region supports, open the fiat wallet and withdraw to a bank account in your own name. Availability and speed depend on the local entity and rails; Singapore and the UAE have local-currency options. Where there is no local rail you can only send coins to another platform or wallet. Do a small test withdrawal first.
Is Crypto.com licensed in Hong Kong?
No. On the SFC list updated 29 May 2026, Crypto.com’s Foris DAX HK Limited appears as a deemed-to-be-licensed applicant (applied 9 February 2024). The SFC warns that such applicants are not licensed. Hong Kong residents who want SFC-regulated protection should use a fully licensed platform such as OSL or HashKey.
Can I get the Crypto.com Visa card in Asia?
The Crypto.com Visa card is available in Singapore and selected Asia-Pacific markets. There is a free basic tier; higher tiers require locking up CRO tokens, and rewards change with tier and policy. Your regional app shows whether you can apply. Our crypto cards guide compares it with other options.
Sources
- SFC — lists of virtual asset trading platforms (incl. deemed-licensed applicants) · checked Oct 2026
- Dubai VARA — public register (VL/23/10/003) · checked Oct 2026
- MAS — Financial Institutions Directory · checked Oct 2026
- MAS — guidelines on consumer protection measures by DPT service providers · checked Oct 2026
- Japan FSA — register of crypto-asset exchange service providers · checked Oct 2026
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International licensed platform · operating since 2013 · Visa / Mastercard / Apple Pay