Trump Media to raise $2.5 billion to create company bitcoin reserve

Trump Media and Technology Group plans to raise $2.5 billion to buy bitcoin and build up a reserve of the cryptocurrency, in the latest move by President Trump’s businesses to expand their reach into the crypto space.  

The Truth Social parent announced Tuesday that some 50 investors will buy $1.5 billion in Trump Media stock and $1 billion in company notes to help raise the funds to create a bitcoin treasury. 

“We view Bitcoin as an apex instrument of financial freedom, and now Trump Media will hold cryptocurrency as a crucial part of our assets,” Trump Media CEO and chairman Devin Nunes said in a statement. 

He said the crypto investment would “help defend our Company against harassment and discrimination by financial institutions” and “create synergies” between Trump Media’s various offerings. 

“It’s a big step forward in the Company’s plans to evolve into a holding company by acquiring additional profit-generating, crown jewel assets consistent with America First principles,” Nunes added. 

Trump Media, which initially launched with a focus on building out the president’s social media platform, has increasingly sought to expand its financial offerings, with a particular eye toward digital assets. 

The company announced in March that it was partnering with Crypto.com to launch a series of exchange traded funds (ETFs), set to comprise digitals assets and securities “with a Made in America focus.” 

Other firms associated with the president and his family have also expanded their ties to the crypto industry in recent months, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest and complicating the administration’s efforts to pass long-sought crypto legislation. 

World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture launched by Trump and his sons last fall, announced earlier this month that an Emirati firm would use its new stablecoin to complete a $2 billion transaction.  

The president also held a dinner with the top investors in his meme coin last week. Attendees spent several hundred million dollars combined to secure their spots at the exclusive event, which Democrats alleged was ripe for corruption. 

Trump has also sought to boost the crypto industry from his official perch in the White House, hosting industry leaders and signing an executive order to create a U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile.  

Meanwhile, the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have made it a key priority to pass two key pieces of crypto legislation — one laying out a regulatory framework for stablecoins and another divvying up oversight of the broader digital asset market between key regulators. 

Stablecoin legislation has shown promise, clearing an early hurdle on the Senate floor last week, although it still has a way to go before final passage in the chamber. Market structure legislation, which is likely to be a more complicated effort, has yet to be formally introduced. 

However, Trump’s recent crypto moves are fueling new concerns about legislation.  

Several Senate Democrats are pushing for amendments to the stablecoin legislation to ensure the president and other elected officials cannot issue or hold stablecoins and other digital assets. 

And House Democrats walked out of a hearing on market structure legislation earlier this month, citing the president’s ties to the industry. 

The White House has repeatedly emphasized that the president is respecting conflict of interest laws. Trump’s shares in Trump Media currently sit in a revocable trust.

“I think everybody, the American public, believes it is absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday, when asked about Trump’s meme coin dinner.