rewrite this title Trump Media’s $6.4 billion crypto venture canceled amid escalating Trump ethics concerns

Trump Media & Technology Group and Crypto.com scrapped plans for a $6.42 billion digital-asset treasury venture. The move unwinds one of the largest crypto projects connected to President Donald Trump as scrutiny of his family’s digital-asset businesses intensifies in Washington.

On Aug. 7, Trump Media, Crypto.com, and Yorkville Acquisition Corp. said they had mutually agreed to terminate the proposed combination. The deal would have created Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, a publicly traded company built around accumulating Crypto.com’s Cronos token.

The cancellation ends a project the companies announced less than a year ago, at the height of the corporate crypto-treasury boom. The planned funding package included $1 billion of CRO, $200 million in cash, $220 million from mandatory warrant exercises and a $5 billion equity line of credit from a Yorkville affiliate.

The companies said the proposed vehicle’s sheer scale would let it control a historically large pool of tokens relative to CRO’s market capitalization.

However, the companies reversed course, citing market conditions and shifting business and stakeholder priorities.

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said:

“After analyzing these proposed ETFs and DAT from every angle, we’ve reached the same conclusion: moving forward under current market conditions doesn’t make sense. We will continue to pursue other ETF opportunities. As for the CRO committed to the DAT, we’ll find a better way to allocate these resources in order to drive revenue, increase demand and grow the value of the ecosystem.”

Following the news, CRO’s value fell 6% to $0.05009. That marked its lowest level since 2023.

Trump’s crypto fortune is complicating Washington’s regulatory push

The retreat lands at an increasingly sensitive moment for Trump’s crypto interests.

His personal digital-asset income has become a central point of contention in negotiations over landmark US crypto legislation. Senate Democrats are demanding restrictions on the ability of presidents and other senior officials to profit from a sector their administrations regulate.

Last year, Trump reported more than $1.4 billion of income from his family’s crypto ventures. The figure included almost $800 million connected to World Liberty Financial and another $635 million from Trump meme coin sales. CryptoSlate previously reported that the Trump family has generated at least $2.3 billion from crypto-related projects since his return to the White House in 2025.

Those earnings now factor into negotiations over the CLARITY Act, the Senate’s effort to create a comprehensive regulatory structure for digital assets.

Key Democratic senators have conditioned their support on stronger ethics restrictions covering political officials with crypto businesses.

The White House and lawmakers are discussing a bipartisan proposal that would require the president to divest from crypto-related businesses. Lawmakers have not finalized the provision.

The dispute has helped stall legislation that once appeared to have a clearer path through Congress.

Some Democrats once considered potential supporters have hardened their positions since the disclosure of Trump’s crypto income. They are pressing for divestiture requirements or other safeguards against officials who benefit financially from policies affecting digital assets.

The White House has rejected allegations that Trump’s crypto businesses create improper conflicts. In June, a spokesperson said neither Trump nor his family had engaged in conflicts of interest. The spokesperson argued that the administration designed its crypto policies to advance US leadership in digital assets.

Crypto.com deal had already drawn conflict-of-interest questions

The CRO venture had also become part of that ethics debate.

Crypto.com donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration. It later contributed $10 million to MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC, after his 2024 election victory. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) subsequently closed an investigation into the exchange in March 2025.

At the time, Crypto.com said its political activity had no connection to the regulator’s decision. The exchange said the investigation ended because there was no legitimate case to pursue.

Months later, Crypto.com and Trump Media unveiled their CRO treasury partnership.

Ethics specialists later questioned the arrangement. Trump Media stood to obtain an ownership position in a venture that Crypto.com and Yorkville would largely capitalize, while the Trump administration controlled agencies that regulated digital assets. Trump Media and the White House rejected suggestions that the relationship represented a conflict.

The plan called for Trump Media to contribute intellectual property and receive shares and warrants in the proposed treasury company. Crypto.com would supply billions of CRO tokens, while Yorkville would provide much of the financing infrastructure.

Trump Media’s broader crypto push

The arrangement formed part of a broader push by Trump Media into financial services and crypto. Under a separate 2025 agreement, the company agreed to acquire roughly $105 million of CRO for its own balance sheet. Crypto.com agreed to purchase $50 million of Trump Media stock.

Crypto.com also agreed to provide wallet infrastructure for a proposed rewards program across Truth Social and Truth+.

The demise of Trump Media Group CRO Strategy now removes one of the largest proposed commercial links between the president’s publicly traded media company and the crypto industry.

However, it does not resolve the broader conflict-of-interest fight.

Senators are debating whether to require Trump to distance himself financially from crypto businesses before Congress passes industry legislation. The debate is moving scrutiny of his digital-asset empire closer to the center of Washington’s crypto agenda.