Trump Media reports $238 million loss as crypto bet drags on results

More than 10 customers have signed up for Trump Media & Technology Group’s new Truth API service, which provides faster access to market-moving posts published by influential accounts on the company’s Truth Social platform.

The service, launched at the beginning of August, is aimed primarily at Wall Street trading firms and gives subscribers early access to posts from some of Truth Social’s most influential users. Interim Chief Executive Officer Kevin McGurn said during an earnings call that the service’s earliest customers were mostly high-frequency trading firms paying between $60,000 and $100,000 a month.

The comments came after Trump Media reported a net loss of $238 million for the April-June quarter. The loss was more than 10 times the loss recorded in the same period a year earlier, according to the company, which has yet to turn a profit, according to the BBC.

Trump Media said in July that it planned to provide Wall Street firms and institutional investors with faster access to posts on Truth Social, where US President Donald Trump frequently makes announcements. The service has raised questions over whether subscribers could gain a trading advantage by receiving the posts before the wider market.

It has also prompted legal and ethical concerns over whether a company in which Trump's family remains the majority shareholder should be able to profit from the president's public statements.

Truth API is “expected to provide the company with a new revenue stream,” Trump Media said in its earnings statement on Monday.

McGurn said the company expects the service to become a “meaningful” and “durable” source of revenue, complementing its broader media strategy, which includes advertising and digital assets.

The company is also exploring opportunities to provide the service to technology firms, news organisations and betting markets, McGurn said.

The BBC has contacted Trump Media & Technology Group for further comment.

Trump Media reported $1.7 million in revenue for the quarter, an 89% increase from the same period a year earlier. However, the company suffered a substantial overall loss as the value of its cryptocurrency holdings declined.

The company said it ended the second quarter with total assets of $2 billion, including about $1.9 billion in financial assets such as cash, short-term investments and digital currencies.

Trump Media has increasingly expanded beyond its original social-media focus into cryptocurrency holdings and clean-energy investments.

Markus Thielen, an analyst at 10x Research, told the BBC that Trump Media is essentially a crypto holdings company “wrapped around” a media business, with the bulk of its losses stemming from that strategy.

The company is diversifying beyond cryptocurrency into areas including social media, Thielen said, although those businesses have yet to generate significant revenue.

Earlier this month, Trump Media abandoned plans for a partnership with Crypto.com to introduce prediction-market features on Truth Social.

By Tamilla Hasanova