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 the...