Cronos Labs, which oversees the Cronos blockchain associated with Crypto.com, has proposed the reissuance of 70 billion CRO tokens. The team originally burned these tokens in 2021, and they now estimate their value to exceed $5.3 billion.
By creating the “Cronos Strategic Reserve,” Cronos Labs aims to strengthen the U.S.’s position in crypto while advancing the chain’s ambitious plans. This move follows President Donald Trump’s recent move to establishing a U.S. crypto reserve.
“In 2021, we burned 70 billion CRO in one of the most significant burn transactions in history,” the Cronos team wrote.
“Under today’s proposal, we will reissue an equal number of tokens on Cronos [proof-of-stake] and place them in a Cronos Strategic Reserve escrow wallet. This will restore the total supply to its original 100 billion CRO.”
Upon approval, Cronos Labs will subject the reissued CRO to a 10-year vesting timeframe, gradually unlocking them.
The proposal lacks details on how the team plans to use the CRO reserved for strategic purposes.
Many in the Cronos community have criticized the proposal on Discord and X. One user on Discord remarked, “the optics on this are terrible,” while another on X questioned, “How is this not just diluting the supply?”
Out of the 100 active Cronos validators, 16 have completed early voting. With 95.7% opposition—totaling roughly 673 million CRO—and only 3.45% support, the proposal has faced strong rejection from the community.
Governance proposals have previously influenced the Cronos token supply.
In November 2024, the community approved Proposal #28, one of three proposals aimed at reducing the CRO supply through burns—an approach that contradicts the new initiative.
With 95% of the voting power—totaling over 8 billion CRO—validators overwhelmingly supported the proposal, leading to a 50 million CRO burn worth around $9 million at the time.
Currently, CRO trades at $0.076 after dropping 8% in the last 24 hours. Its price has fallen 92% from its record high of $0.96 in November 2021.
Despite the community’s opposition, the proposal for the 70 billion CRO reissuance has passed. Cronos Labs has confirmed that the Cronos Strategic Reserve will proceed as originally planned. The vote passed with 62.18%, representing 4.6 billion CRO. Meanwhile, 17.61% voted no (1.3 billion CRO), 20.11% abstained (1.49 billion CRO), and a small 0.11% (8.12 million CRO tokens) vetoed.
With all validator votes counted, the team has reaffirmed its commitment to vesting the reissued tokens over a decade. They will unlock these tokens incrementally to support key strategic projects.
As the reissuance officially goes live tomorrow, Cronos’ tokenomics will undergo a major transformation.
While some see this move as a catalyst for long-term progress, others worry about dilution and a potential price decline for CRO.
