Finance

Markets React as Trump Media Ventures Into Crypto and ETFs

Trump Media is venturing into the financial services sector, including investment vehicles, the company announced on Wednesday.

Shares of Truth Social's parent company, trading under the ticker DJT, surged 6.8% on Wednesday. President Donald Trump indirectly holds 114,750,000 shares in the company, which are managed through a revocable trust.

The new financial services division will be called Truth.Fi, starting with up to $250 million in funding, which will be managed by brokerage firm Charles Schwab. This capital will be used to develop customized exchange-traded funds, cryptocurrencies, and other investment products.

The company plans to roll out new products and services, including its own investment vehicles, later this year.

"Truth.Fi is a natural extension of the Truth Social movement," said Trump Media CEO and Chairman Devin Nunes in a statement. "We began by creating a free-speech social media platform, added a fast-streaming TV service, and now we’re expanding into investment products and decentralized finance."

"Developing American-first investment vehicles is a key step toward building an ecosystem that allows American patriots to protect themselves from threats like cancellation, censorship, debanking, and privacy violations by Big Tech and woke corporations," Nunes, a former congressman from California, added.

The release did not detail the specific investment vehicles Truth.Fi will offer but noted that Schwab will provide broad guidance on the company’s investment strategy. The focus will be on “American growth, manufacturing, and energy companies, as well as investments that support the Patriot Economy.”

Samantha Schwab, granddaughter of Charles Schwab's founder, recently became deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

This announcement follows growing Republican complaints about perceived discrimination against conservatives by financial institutions. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump criticized Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan for allegedly locking out conservative clients.

“I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank, and that included a place called Bank of America,” Trump remarked.

The president also addressed JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, saying, “You and Jamie and everybody, I hope you’re going to open your banks to conservatives because what you’re doing is wrong.”

TECH

DeepSeek Stuns the AI Community: Here's How Tech CEOs Are Reacting

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella praised DeepSeek’s "real innovations," while OpenAI's Sam Altman called it "clearly a great model." Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that "innovation that drives efficiency is a good thing," and Palantir’s Alex Karp emphasized the significance of "an all-country effort."

These remarks came in response to China’s DeepSeek, which unexpectedly surged from obscurity to the forefront of the tech world this week. Over the past few days, tech leaders and industry experts alike have weighed in on the startup lab's new AI model, which has astonished observers and reportedly cost far less to develop than competing U.S.-based models.

DeepSeek’s mobile app skyrocketed to the top of Apple’s App Store early in the week, retaining the lead spot through Friday, surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT. News that its new R1 model, which competes with OpenAI’s o1, was created for just $6 million caused a major drop in the stock prices of chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, which saw a combined $800 billion in market cap erased on Monday.

The timing of DeepSeek's breakthrough was striking, coinciding with the start of tech earnings season, with Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, and Apple all reporting their results between Wednesday and Thursday. It also came just one week into President Donald Trump’s second term in office, where he has underscored the importance of the U.S. leading in AI, especially in competition with China. Trump also announced the launch of Stargate, a project encouraging OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank to invest billions into strengthening domestic AI infrastructure.

CRYPTO

Hedge Fund Sounds Alarm: Trump’s Actions Are Inflating a Crypto Bubble

Hedge fund Elliott Management recently issued a letter to its investors, advising caution when it comes to crypto. The firm reminded clients that crypto is a highly speculative market, blamed the White House for fueling a massive bubble, and predicted an imminent crash.

The Financial Times obtained the letter and shared its grim outlook. Elliott stated that it had "never seen a market like this" and described the behavior of investors as resembling "a crowd of sports bettors."

Elliott called crypto “ground zero” for the reckless speculation sweeping the markets. Since Trump’s time in office, crypto prices—particularly Bitcoin—have surged, with prices rising across the board. Investors are minting memecoins, pulling off rug pulls, and stealing millions of dollars. While many are losing big, others are profiting significantly.