Trump Media, Crypto.com Cancel $6.42B CRO Treasury Plan

On Aug. 7, Trump Media & Technology Group, Crypto.com and Yorkville Acquisition Corp. announced they had agreed to terminate a proposed $6.42 billion digital-asset treasury. The plan would have created Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, a publicly traded company intended to accumulate Crypto.com’s Cronos (CRO) tokens.

The planned financing package called for about $1 billion of CRO tokens, $200 million in cash, $220 million from mandatory warrant exercises and a $5 billion equity line of credit from a Yorkville affiliate.

The companies cited concerns that the vehicle would control a large pool of CRO relative to the token’s market capitalization. They also pointed to weak market conditions and shifting business and stakeholder priorities as reasons to end the deal.

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek wrote that the firm reviewed the proposals and concluded that proceeding under current market conditions did not make sense. He added the company would pursue other exchange-traded fund opportunities and reallocate CRO commitments to drive revenue and demand within the ecosystem.

After the announcement, CRO fell about 6% to $0.05009, its lowest level since 2023.

The cancellation comes as Washington intensifies scrutiny of crypto projects linked to President Donald Trump. Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in income last year tied to family crypto ventures, including nearly $800 million connected to World Liberty Financial and about $635 million from sales of a Trump-branded meme coin. Disclosures show the family has earned at least $2.3 billion from crypto-related projects since 2025.

Those figures have entered negotiations over the CLARITY Act, the Senate effort to create a federal regulatory framework for digital assets. Key Democratic senators have sought limits on presidents and senior officials profiting from sectors their administrations regulate, and some lawmakers are proposing divestiture or other ethics safeguards as conditions for supporting industry legislation. The White House has rejected allegations of improper conflicts, saying neither Trump nor his family engaged in conflicts of interest.

The proposed CRO treasury had already raised ethics questions. Crypto.com made political donations that included $1 million to the presidential inauguration and $10 million to a pro-Trump super PAC after the 2024 election. The Securities and Exchange Commission closed an investigation into the exchange in March 2025.

The agreement formed part of a broader commercial relationship between the companies. Under a separate 2025 deal, Trump Media agreed to acquire about $105 million of CRO for its balance sheet, while Crypto.com agreed to buy $50 million of Trump Media stock and to provide wallet infrastructure for a proposed rewards program on Truth Social and Truth+. The termination removes one of the largest proposed commercial links between Trump Media and the crypto industry. Lawmakers continue to debate whether divestiture or other constraints will be required before Congress finalizes digital-asset legislation.