Trump Media & Technology Group (NASDAQ: DJT), the parent company of Truth Social, has been quite a volatile stock ever since it started trading in late March of 2024.
Soon after, it became apparent that DJT stock wouldn’t trade in accordance with its fundamentals, or even its growth prospects — but as a reflection of public sentiment surrounding then-candidate and now-President Donald Trump.
Double-digit surges and crashes aren’t anything out of the ordinary for Trump Media stock. On November 18, the announcement that DJT would acquire cryptocurrency trading platform Bakkt (NYSE: BKKT) caused a 16.65% rally.
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The closing price of a single DJT share was $30.04 on January 28 — by press time on January 29, in the pre-market trading session, the price of Trump Media stock had reached $33.09. This latest 10.15% surge was, like in the case of the above-mentioned rally, a cryptocurrency-related development.
DJT stock rallies on fintech announcement
On January 29, Trump Media announced that the company’s board of directors had approved the launch of a financial services and financial technology arm under a new brand — Truth.Fi.
Per the announcement, the company will invest up to $250 million of its $700 cash reserves in the new brand in a partnership with Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW), which will also take custody of the funds.
The statement further clarified that Truth.Fi plans to offer customized exchange-traded funds (ETFs), separately managed accounts (SMAs), and exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), other cryptocurrencies, and cryptocurrency-related securities.
In addition, the announcement also included the following statement from chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman Devin Nunes, who framed the development as part of a wider and politically-motivated move:
“Truth.Fi is a natural expansion of the Truth Social movement. We began by creating a free-speech social media platform, added an ultra-fast TV streaming service, and now we’re moving into investment products and decentralized finance.”
He added:
“Developing American First investment vehicles is another step toward our goal of creating a robust ecosystem through which American patriots can protect themselves from the ever-present threat of cancellation, censorship, debanking, and privacy violations committed by Big Tech and woke corporations”
Although no clear timetable was set, the press release also states that Trump Media anticipates that products and services, including multiple investment vehicles, will be rolled out in 2025, pending regulatory approval.
Featured image via Shutterstock
