Trump Media to launch $2.5B Bitcoin strategy amid ongoing crypto concerns

President Donald Trump’s Sarasota-based media company is trying to sell and issue $2.5 billion in stocks and convertible notes for what it calls one of the most significant Bitcoin treasury purchases ever by a publicly traded company.

A Trump Media press release stated that the company has secured agreements with approximately 50 institutional investors. The deal includes the sale of $1.5 billion in common stock and $1 billion in zero-interest convertible senior secured notes, the proceeds from which will be used to acquire Bitcoin. The company expects to finalize the funds by Thursday.

CEO Devin Nunes called the move a “first acquisition of a crown jewel asset” and said Bitcoin would “help defend our Company against harassment and discrimination by financial institutions.”

“We view Bitcoin as an apex instrument of financial freedom, and now Trump Media will hold cryptocurrency as a crucial part of our assets,” Nunes said. “It’s a big step forward in the Company’s plans to evolve into a holding company by acquiring additional profit-generating … assets consistent with America First principles.”

Crypto.com and Anchorage Digital will manage the custody of the digital assets, Truth Media said, adding that the transaction will support expansion across its Truth-branded products, including the Twitter-like Truth Social website, streaming platform Truth+, and Truth.fi, a fintech startup launched in January.

The company also revealed plans to build out “utility tokens” for use across Truth Social and Truth+.

The announcement on Tuesday comes as Trump is under scrutiny for his evolving stance on cryptocurrencies. Once a skeptic, Trump has embraced digital assets in recent months, welcoming crypto executives at rallies and raising money in crypto donations despite legal and transparency concerns.

Last week, Trump hosted a private dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach for the 220 biggest buyers of his $TRUMP memecoin. Critics have highlighted the lack of oversight in crypto-based fundraising, particularly after Trump’s campaign adopted a strategy that permitted contributions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrency tokens, raising concerns about foreign influence and donor transparency.

While the Trump campaign frames its crypto embrace as pro-innovation, watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers argue it opens the door to untraceable donations and regulatory evasion. Campaign finance experts have noted similarities between Trump’s crypto fundraising and the same tactics for which he criticized Democrats.

Trump Media’s pivot to Bitcoin reflects a broader, but arguably paradoxical, ideological alignment between Trump’s America First economic agenda and the decentralized financial ethos many in the crypto space champion.

While the offering is still subject to closing conditions, the scale of the deal positions Trump Media as a major institutional player in the crypto economy. It also further entwines Trump’s personal brand and political operations with the volatile digital asset market, which could offer him strategic gains, but also poses significant regulatory risks.

It’s the latest in a series of crypto-focused moves by Trump in and outside his government duties. In the past few months, the Trump administration announced plans for a federal cryptocurrency reserve, which would include digital assets seized by the U.S. government, and the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped lawsuits and probes into crypto-trading platforms Coinbase, Kraken and Robinhood.

Last Fall, the Trump family launched its World Liberty Financial crypto venture, and his two oldest sons have been promoting it as the family’s net worth increased $2.9 billion, much of it reportedly due to crypto investments, including a March investment in crypto-mining company American Bitcoin.

Early this month, World Liberty Financial announced the launch of a stablecoin, which an Abu Dhabi investment firm would use for its $2 billion investment in Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume, which pleaded guilty in 2023 to money laundering and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines.