The company’s holdings include 11,542 Bitcoin and over 746 million Cronos tokens. Meanwhile, Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao recently said he was surprised by his recent presidential pardon from Donald Trump, and denied any business ties with the former president or his family. Trump Media’s Crypto Push Struggles Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the company behind President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, reported a steep third-quarter loss despite holding an impressive Bitcoin treasury and expanding its crypto portfolio. The firm posted a net loss of $54.8 million for the quarter ending Sept. 30, which was more than the $19.3 million loss that was recorded during the same period last year. Revenues declined slightly to $972,900, down from just over $1 million a year earlier. This means that the company is still struggling to translate its political brand recognition into sustainable financial performance. Shares of Trump Media closed Friday at $13.10 after slipping 1.73% before inching up marginally to $13.20 in after-hours trading. The stock fell more than 61% year-to-date, due to investor skepticism despite the firm’s aggressive push into digital assets. Trump Media & Technology Group YTD share price (Source: Google Finance ) According to its earnings report, Trump Media held 11,542 Bitcoin as of Sept. 30, worth roughly $1.23 billion at recent market prices. The company began purchasing Bitcoin in May after a $1.5 billion stock sale and a $1 billion convertible bond offering, which positioned cryptocurrency as a key part of its investment strategy. TMTG also revealed that it generated $15.3 million in realized income from Bitcoin options investments and posted $33 million in unrealized gains from its holdings of Cronos (CRO), the native token of the Cronos blockchain. As of September, the company held more than 746 million CRO tokens, valued at around $0.18 each. In August, Trump Media entered into an agreement with Crypto.com and Yorkville Acquisition Corp to launch Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, a digital asset treasury vehicle that plans to purchase up to $1 billion worth of Cronos. This is equivalent to more than 6.3 trillion tokens. Despite the expansion of its financial assets from $274 million in March to $3.1 billion by the end of September, profitability is still elusive. CEO Devin Nunes described the third quarter as “crucial” to the company’s long-term growth, and specifically pointed to the firm’s strengthened financial position and ongoing pursuit of mergers and acquisitions. However, with mounting costs and continued losses, Trump Media’s reliance on its growing crypto portfolio may not be enough to reverse its declining market performance in the near term. CZ Denies Trump Ties After Pardon In other Trump-related news, Binance co-founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao recently said that he was surprised to receive a presidential pardon from President Donald Trump and denied having any business relationship with Trump or his family. In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Zhao explained that he never met or spoke with Trump before or after the pardon, which was granted in October. The Binance founder added that he only met Trump’s son, Eric, once at the Bitcoin Middle East and North Africa conference in Abu Dhabi. CZ’s Fox News interview “There is no business relationship between me, Binance, and World Liberty Finance,” Zhao said during the interview. He explained that his lawyers submitted a petition for the pardon in April but that he was never informed of its progress. “I did not know when or if it was going to happen,” he said. “There was no indication of how far it went along. Then, it happened one day.” The pardon caused a strong reaction across the political spectrum. In the crypto community, many saw it as a victory for the digital asset industry and a sign that the Trump administration is more open to cryptocurrency than the previous government. However, Democratic lawmakers criticized the decision by accusing Trump of corruption and suggesting that the pardon was politically motivated. At a press conference after the pardon, Trump said he did not personally know Zhao but believed the case against him was unjust. “He had a lot of support, and they said that what he did is not even a crime,” Trump said. “He was persecuted by the Biden administration.” Statement from Maxine Waters Democratic Representative Maxine Waters alleged that Trump’s decision was part of a “pay-to-play” arrangement, and suggested that CZ’s pardon was linked to investments in crypto ventures associated with Trump’s family, including World Liberty Financial (WLFI). The allegations led several lawmakers, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, to sign an open letter addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging more scrutiny of the pardon and Trump’s relationship with Zhao.
