A company controlled by the U.S. president announced plans to invest in the Cronos (CRO) cryptocurrency of the Crypto.com exchange. Behind the seemingly positive initiative, there may be negative consequences.
Here’s what’s wrong with Trump’s purchase of Cronos (CRO) and the president’s crypto investments in general.
Tracking the CRO price is easiest with Quickex.
What happened
Donald Trump’s family media group announced a $6.4 billion deal with the Crypto.com exchange to purchase its Cronos (CRO) token. This way, the U.S. president tied his business even closer to the digital asset industry.
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), controlled by the Trump family, stated it would create the first and largest publicly traded company with a CRO reserve. After this news, the token’s price rose by 54% to $0.23. TMTG shares also reacted positively to the deal.
CRO price. Source: TradingView
According to the terms of the deal, Crypto.com acquired $50 million worth of TMTG shares, while the media group itself invested $105 million in CRO.
Exchange head Kris Marszalek said that Cronos will become the token of Truth Social, Trump’s social network, which is also managed by Trump Media & Technology Group. Here’s how this will work:
- TMTG plans to make CRO the main token for paying rewards in Truth Social;
- the token will also become the basis of the monetization scheme through the social network’s platform.
For example, users will be able to convert activity and subscriptions on Truth Social into CRO using Crypto.com tools.
Yorkville Acquisition Corp — a Nasdaq-listed “blank check” company suited for SPAC mergers — is also involved in the deal. It is expected to buy about $1 billion worth of CRO tokens. After that, Yorkville’s ticker will change to *Make CRO Great Again.
*A nod to Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.”
At the same time, TMTG plans to raise $2.5 billion to buy bitcoin. Crypto.com will organize custody of the cryptocurrency and provide the company with technology to launch a bitcoin ETF.
From rags to riches
Under Joe Biden’s administration, the SEC examined Crypto.com’s activities, but the investigation was closed in spring 2025. It remains unknown what exactly the regulator didn’t like about the platform’s operations. Yet the very fact of the Commission’s interest in the business is already an alarming signal. Some members of the crypto community assumed the SEC had targeted the exchange due to suspicions that its token violated securities laws.
There are other dark chapters in the exchange’s history as well. Here are some of them:
- In January 2022, Crypto.com was the victim of a hacker attack. The attackers managed to steal about $15 million in Ethereum (ETH). In response, the platform suspended withdrawals. Operations were eventually restored. According to the project team, client funds were not affected.
- In the summer and fall of 2022, Crypto.com carried out mass layoffs. According to some reports, the total number of dismissed employees reached 2,500, about 30–40% of the company’s staff.
- In November 2022, the market capitalization of Cronos (CRO) collapsed by about $1 billion. The drop was partly linked to the FTX exchange’s collapse and reports that Crypto.com accidentally transferred $400 million worth of ETH to another exchange.
- In March 2025, the company approved the issuance of 70 billion new CRO worth about $5 billion, even though the initial plan had envisioned burning part of the tokens. This sparked a wave of criticism about the transparency of the financial model and the platform’s liquidity, especially against the backdrop of the lack of a fresh audit.
Crypto.com is also widely known for large-scale marketing campaigns. The company signed contracts with many athletes, including Formula 1 and UFC stars, and bought the naming rights to rename the Staples Center to Crypto.com Arena. However, after the market crash, many investors lost funds, which cast a shadow over the exchange.
Trump, crypto, and impeachment
The U.S. president continues to immerse his business in the crypto industry despite criticism. Previously, he faced the threat of impeachment specifically because of his interest in crypto. Regulators were outraged by the issuance of personal stablecoins by the politician and his wife, Melania Trump, which they later manipulated.
For example, the president offered a pass to have dinner with him to the largest holders of his memecoin. Predictably, the cryptocurrency’s price rose on the news.
The reaction of the Official Trump token to Trump’s announcement of a dinner for major investors and the depth of the sell-off after the dinner. Chart: TradingView
Many saw Trump’s actions as manipulation. As a result, impeachment proposals arose.
Melania’s cryptocurrency also hasn’t been smooth sailing. Reports appeared online about insider trading and accusations of dumping its price.
The politician apparently does not see a risk of losing office because of his support for the crypto industry. Hence the news about new partnerships and investments.
Conclusions
Trump Media & Technology Group’s investments in Cronos look impressive — billions, high-profile partners, political slogans repurposed as tickers. On the surface, it’s an ambitious strategy capable of turning the Truth Social network into a platform with its own cryptocurrency economy.
But beneath this wrapper lie questions. CRO is a token with a controversial reputation: hacking incidents, billion-dollar market-cap crashes, dubious issuances — and now an attempt to turn it into a symbol of the American dream. It turns out that the U.S. president’s company is betting on an asset that has repeatedly teetered on the edge of trust.
The irony is that Donald Trump presents himself as the savior of the crypto industry, yet he does not hesitate to use tools that have already let investors down more than once.
For CRO, Trump’s support — while he faces impeachment threats over his activity in the crypto industry — may bring a host of problems.
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