Trump Media builds $2 billion bitcoin hoard, as crypto swells president's net worth

Trump has made millions more off of other crypto ventures, including the decentralized finance entity World Liberty Financial and the meme coin $TRUMP, whose initial coin release came just days before his inauguration.

The Trump family, which owns much of World Liberty through a business entity, has made about $500 million since the venture's launch in September, according to a Reuters analysis.

Trump's spokespeople have said that the president's connection to World Liberty does not create a conflict of interest because his assets are in a trust that is currently managed by his son, Donald Trump Jr.

But assets in that revocable trust still belong "indirectly" to the president, who is the trust's grantor and its sole beneficiary. And the funds would be available to him after he leaves office in 2029.

Critics, including Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts, warn that Trump's crypto interests and his political power create an environment ripe for corruption.

"As a stakeholder in crypto assets, President Trump will likely profit from the very policies he is pursuing," the advocacy group Democracy Defenders Fund said in a report in April.

Before taking office in January, Trump transferred all of DJT shares to a revocable trust managed by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. Some experts were unconvinced Trump was eliminating conflict-of-interest concerns by removing himself from direct control of the shares.

Since then, Trump Media has effectively redefined itself as a crypto and financial services company.

The company's first product was the Twitter-like social media platform Truth Social, which is used by Trump but has failed to generate much revenue. The company, which went public last year through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, nevertheless attracted thousands of retail investors

In late January, the company announced a FinTech brand called Truth.Fi, boosted by a $250 million allocation in investments including bitcoin and exchange-traded funds.

In February, the company began pursuing what it called a "strategic acquisition fund with select investors," and in March it inked a partnership with Crypto.com to launch a series of ETFs.

In late May, the company said it raised over $2.3 billion in net proceeds from selling stock and convertible notes to about 50 institutional investors, and that it would those funds to build a bitcoin treasury.

Trump Media's announcement Monday morning came less than a week after bitcoin hit an all-time high, making it by far the world's most valuable and popular cryptocurrency.

The asset jumped past $120,000 as investors anticipated Congress would pass new U.S. crypto legislation to establish a clearer regulatory framework for the nascent industry.

"We're rigorously implementing our publicly announced strategy and fulfilling our bitcoin treasury plan," Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes said in Monday's release.

"These assets help ensure our Company's financial freedom, help protect us against discrimination by financial institutions, and will create synergies with the utility token we're planning to introduce across the Truth Social ecosphere," Nunes said.