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Trump Media raising $2.5 billion to establish bitcoin treasury

Trump Media & Technology Group announced today they will “issue and sell approximately $1.5 billion in the Company’s common stock and $1.0 billion in principal amount of 0.00% convertible senior secured notes” to establish a bitcoin treasury.

Yesterday, The Financial Times reported the company was raising $3 billion to buy bitcoin and other crypto assets. Trump Media shares were up as much as 13% in premarket Monday morning but dropped 9% after the market opened. Bitcoin’s price was hovering around $110,000 this morning, just days after reaching a new all-time high of $111,814 on May 22.

The move comes ahead of the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas. Vice President JD Vance, as well as President Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr., are speaking at the event.

The company earlier denied the FT report, telling the outlet in a statement, “Apparently the Financial Times has dumb writers listening to even dumber sources.”

This would be the latest in a growing move into crypto for the Trump family. Last week, Trump hosted his trump meme coin dinner, which sparked considerable controversy.

Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, announced the launch of the financial services and fintech brand Truth.Fi in January, and in February, it applied for trademarks for a slew of “America First-themed” ETFs, including one for bitcoin, the Truth.Fi Bitcoin Plus ETF.

The move comes ahead of the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas. Vice President JD Vance, as well as President Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr., are speaking at the event.

The company earlier denied the FT report, telling the outlet in a statement, “Apparently the Financial Times has dumb writers listening to even dumber sources.”

This would be the latest in a growing move into crypto for the Trump family. Last week, Trump hosted his trump meme coin dinner, which sparked considerable controversy.

Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, announced the launch of the financial services and fintech brand Truth.Fi in January, and in February, it applied for trademarks for a slew of “America First-themed” ETFs, including one for bitcoin, the Truth.Fi Bitcoin Plus ETF.

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Payward, parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, puts plans for IPO on hold

Payward, crypto exchange Kraken’s parent company, has paused its plans for an initial public offering until market conditions improve, according to a report from CoinDesk that cited two people with knowledge of the matter. 

Since the firm announced in November its preparation for an IPO of its common stock, the total market capitalization of the crypto industry has shed around $652.2 billion, from $3.2 trillion to $2.5 trillion as of Wednesday, data from CoinGecko shows. 

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

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SEC and CFTC issue new guidance on how securities laws apply to crypto assets

On Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, together with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, issued an interpretation clarifying how federal securities law applies to crypto assets, a first step toward developing a clearer regulatory framework. 

The interpretive guidance introduces a token taxonomy for different types of cryptocurrencies, with SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins adding that “most crypto assets are not themselves securities.”

Examples of a digital commodity, “a crypto asset that is intrinsically linked to and derives its value from the programmatic operation of a crypto system that is ‘functional,’” include:

The guidance also includes definitions of digital collectibles (such as NFTs), stablecoins, digital tools, and digital securities (such as tokenized real-world assets and stocks).

This is a monumental step in the mainstream adoption of the industry and clears a hurdle in how crypto can operate going forward, according to David Pakman, head of venture investments at CoinFund. “This will allow new token designs with the confidence that their existence does not require registration with the SEC, etc.,” Pakman told Sherwood News.

Despite the clarification efforts from the two organizations, the market capitalization of the crypto industry has dropped about 2% in the last 24 hours as each of the tokens mentioned in the guidance are trading lower in the period, data from CoinGecko shows.

The joint agency action also complements congressional efforts to turn a crypto market structure framework into law. With the goal of providing regulations on the offer and sale of digital commodities, the CLARITY Act passed the House of Representatives last year and is now sitting in the Senate.

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