When CrossTower launched in 2020, it didn’t feel like another crypto exchange. It had a different pitch: mainstream crypto trading for institutions. No flashy memes. No TikTok influencers. Just a team of ex-Citadel and Deutsche Bank traders building what they called a “prime brokerage for digital assets.” At the time, that sounded promising. But by May 2023, everything changed. CrossTower was kicked off a major index. And by early 2024, whispers called it the “latest crypto casualty.” What went wrong?
What CrossTower Was Supposed to Be
CrossTower wasn’t trying to beat Binance or Coinbase in volume. It aimed higher. It wanted to be the bridge between Wall Street and crypto. Its founders came from traditional finance-Greg Bunn, the Chief Strategy Officer, spent over 16 years at Deutsche Bank and led counterparty strategy at Citadel. That’s not the usual crypto startup background. This was a team that knew how institutional money moves. They launched with a capital markets desk in January 2021, targeting clients with $500 million or more in assets. That’s not retail. That’s pension funds, hedge funds, family offices. They offered more than spot trading. You could borrow crypto, get trade financing, use structured products, and execute trades across multiple venues. It looked like a mini-JP Morgan for digital assets. They also made it easy for regular users. You could deposit USD via wire or credit card. There was a mobile app on both iOS and Android. Trading fees? Market makers paid 0.05%, takers paid 0%. That’s cheaper than most exchanges. Plus, a referral program paid 25% of your friend’s trading fees forever. For a new exchange, that’s aggressive.The Institutional Red Flag
But here’s the problem: institutions don’t care about low fees or referral bonuses. They care about liquidity, reliability, and data integrity. Wilshire Indexes, one of the world’s top index providers, runs benchmarks for the FT Wilshire Digital Asset Index Series. To be included, an exchange must pass strict criteria: trading volume, order book depth, execution quality, and operational transparency. CrossTower was on the list at first. Then, in May 2023, it was removed. Why? It failed to meet standards for two consecutive reviews. That’s not a glitch. That’s a pattern. The same thing happened to eToroX and OKCoin. But unlike them, CrossTower never came back. Meanwhile, exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, and Gemini stayed on the list. Even Gemini, which was put on watch, still had enough trust to keep its spot. This demotion wasn’t a rumor. It was official. And for institutions, being excluded from Wilshire’s index meant CrossTower couldn’t be trusted as a price source. That killed its core business.Why Retail Never Took Off
CrossTower had the tools for retail users: fiat on-ramps, mobile apps, low fees. So why didn’t everyday traders flock to it? Because it didn’t feel like a retail platform. The interface, the marketing, the product names-all screamed “institutional.” You didn’t see simple “Buy Bitcoin” buttons. You saw “Structured Products” and “Multi-Venue Execution.” For a beginner, that’s confusing. For a pro, it’s not enough. ICORankings called it a “regulation-driven exchange with low retail pull.” That’s accurate. CrossTower prioritized Bermuda’s regulatory license over user experience. It got the paperwork right but forgot to build a community. There are almost no user reviews on Trustpilot, Reddit, or crypto forums. No viral memes. No influencer campaigns. No YouTube tutorials. Just a quiet, corporate website. Compare that to Coinbase. It spent millions on Super Bowl ads. CrossTower? Nothing. It didn’t even try.
The Death Knell: “The Latest Crypto Casualty”
By January 2024, The Royal Gazette called CrossTower Bermuda the “latest crypto casualty.” That’s not a neutral phrase. It’s a funeral notice. No new features. No funding rounds. No leadership updates. No press releases. After the Wilshire demotion, the silence was deafening. No one announced layoffs, but no one announced growth either. The capital markets desk? Quiet. The mobile apps? Still in the app stores, but downloads dropped to near zero. The website? Still live, but unchanged since 2023. In crypto, silence is death. If you’re not growing, you’re dying. And CrossTower didn’t just stop growing-it started shrinking.Who Was CrossTower Even For?
It tried to serve two masters: institutions and retail. That’s almost impossible. Institutions need deep liquidity, tight spreads, and audit trails. CrossTower didn’t have enough volume to deliver that. Retail needs simplicity, fast on-ramps, and clear branding. CrossTower’s interface was too complex, its marketing too corporate. It was stuck in the middle. Not big enough to be trusted by institutions. Not friendly enough to attract retail. Compare it to Kraken. Kraken has massive volume, strong regulation, and a clean retail interface. It’s institutional-grade but still feels human. CrossTower felt like a ghost town with a nice website.
What You Should Know Today
If you’re thinking of using CrossTower right now, here’s the reality:- Liquidity is thin. Orders over $100,000 likely won’t execute cleanly. You’ll get slippage.
- Support is minimal. No live chat. No phone number. Emails go unanswered for days.
- It’s not on major indexes. That means price data from CrossTower isn’t trusted by analysts, funds, or data providers.
- It’s not growing. No new coins added since 2023. No new features. No marketing.
- The referral program still works. But who’s left to refer? Probably not many.
Alternatives That Actually Deliver
If you need a reliable exchange, here are better options:| Exchange | Regulation | Trading Volume (Daily) | Fiat On-Ramp | Institutional Grade | Mobile App |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coinbase | US, EU, UK | $3.2B | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Kraken | US, EU, Canada | $1.8B | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bitstamp | EU (Luxembourg) | $1.1B | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gemini | US (NYDFS) | $900M | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CrossTower | Bermuda | Unknown (likely <$50M) | Yes | No | Yes |
Final Verdict
CrossTower had the pedigree. It had the funding. It had the team. But it didn’t have the scale, the community, or the momentum. It tried to be everything to everyone and ended up being nothing to anyone. The institutional world moved on. The retail world never showed up. Today, CrossTower isn’t a viable exchange. It’s a relic. A case study in how even well-funded, well-connected crypto projects can vanish if they don’t build real trust and volume. If you’re looking to trade crypto, there are better options. Don’t waste your time on a ghost platform.Is CrossTower still operating in 2026?
CrossTower’s website and apps are still live, but there’s no evidence of active operations. No new features, no press releases, no leadership updates since 2023. The lack of trading volume and its removal from Wilshire Indexes strongly suggest it’s no longer functioning as a real exchange. It’s likely in maintenance mode or has shut down.
Can I still deposit USD on CrossTower?
Technically, yes-the website still lists USD deposits via wire and card. But users report long delays and unresponsive support. Even if you deposit, liquidity is so low that buying or selling crypto at fair prices is unlikely. You risk getting stuck with assets you can’t trade.
Why was CrossTower removed from Wilshire Indexes?
Wilshire Indexes uses CC Data’s Exchange Benchmark to rate exchanges on volume, liquidity, execution quality, and transparency. CrossTower failed to meet minimum standards in two consecutive reviews. This means its trading activity was too low, order books were too shallow, and it couldn’t be trusted as a price source for institutional portfolios.
Are there any user reviews for CrossTower?
Very few. Major review sites like Trustpilot, Reddit, and CryptoCompare have almost no user feedback. This matches the pattern of a platform with “low retail pull.” The absence of reviews isn’t because users are happy-it’s because almost no one is using it anymore.
Should I use CrossTower for institutional trading?
No. Institutional clients rely on exchanges that are part of major indexes like Wilshire, Bloomberg, or S&P. CrossTower’s removal from Wilshire means it’s not trusted for price discovery or reporting. Using it for institutional trades would expose portfolios to inaccurate pricing and execution risk.
Comments (10)
- Jeannie LaCroix
- March 23, 2026 AT 17:43 PM
Ugh, CrossTower was such a vibe killer. I remember when they launched-no memes, no influencers, just suits talking about 'liquidity depth' like it was a TED Talk. I wanted to trade crypto, not attend a board meeting. They had the tech, sure, but zero soul. Meanwhile, Coinbase was on the Super Bowl and I was like, 'finally, someone gets it.' CrossTower? More like CrossBoring.
- Jackie Crusenberry
- March 24, 2026 AT 15:36 PM
lol so it just died? like, no fanfare? no last tweet? just... gone? i mean, if you’re gonna crash, at least go out with a bang. this is just sad. like a ghost app.
- Dominic Taylor
- March 25, 2026 AT 18:40 PM
From a structural standpoint, CrossTower’s failure is textbook. They conflated regulatory compliance with market legitimacy. Being on Wilshire wasn’t a badge-it was a *prerequisite*. The moment they dropped off, their institutional value proposition evaporated. No one cares about your ‘prime brokerage’ pitch if your order book can’t handle a $500k trade without slippage. It’s not about branding-it’s about measurable depth. They built a Ferrari with a bicycle engine.
- JOHN NGEH
- March 27, 2026 AT 06:15 AM
I actually liked CrossTower’s vibe. It felt like a quiet, serious place-like a library for traders. But you’re right, the silence spoke volumes. No updates, no news, no energy. I kept checking the app, hoping for something new. Nothing. And then I realized-no one else was there either. It’s weird how much you notice when a platform just stops breathing.
- vu phung
- March 28, 2026 AT 08:46 AM
Honestly, I think they were trying too hard to be ‘institutional.’ Like, you can’t just slap on a ‘structured products’ tab and expect hedge funds to come running. You need real volume, real connectivity, real relationships. CrossTower had the UI, but not the backend muscle. It’s like opening a Michelin-star restaurant… in a ghost town.
- Lorna Gornik
- March 28, 2026 AT 12:49 PM
soo... crosstower is basically crypto’s equivalent of that one friend who had a plan but never showed up to the party? 🤡 i mean, they had the invite, the outfit, the whole vibe… but zero energy. now they’re just a tab in my phone i forgot to delete. rip 🕯️
- Joshua T Berglan
- March 30, 2026 AT 12:54 PM
It’s wild how much trust matters in crypto. CrossTower had all the paperwork but zero community. People don’t just want to trade-they want to feel like they’re part of something. Coinbase built a movement. CrossTower built a brochure. And in crypto? Brochures don’t last.
- Kevin Da silva
- March 30, 2026 AT 15:42 PM
Wilshire removal was the death. No second chances. Institutions don’t experiment. If you’re not on the index, you’re not in the portfolio. CrossTower didn’t fail because of bad tech. They failed because they were irrelevant. No one cared enough to fix it.
- Andrew Midwood
- April 1, 2026 AT 13:08 PM
Y’all forget one thing-CrossTower’s mobile app was actually smooth. Clean UI, fast deposits. But if you’re trying to trade $2M and your bid gets buried because the order book is paper-thin… who cares how pretty the app is? It’s like having a Tesla with no gas. Pretty, but useless.
- Kayla Thompson
- April 2, 2026 AT 07:05 AM
Oh please. CrossTower was never meant to survive. They were a vanity project for ex-bankers who thought crypto was just Wall Street with better graphics. They didn’t understand that crypto’s power isn’t in regulation-it’s in chaos, in rebellion, in memes. You can’t build a movement with a compliance checklist. This wasn’t a failure-it was inevitable.
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