By Brian Swint

Trump Media & Technology, the parent company of President-elect Donald Trump's Truth Social platform, is considering developing a cryptocurrency payment service.

The company put in a trademark application for a firm called TruthFi, described as a payment platform for digital assets. The application was made on Monday and first reported by the New York Times late Thursday. Earlier this week, it was reported that DJT was looking into buying crypto platform Bakkt.

Trump Media, which trades under the ticker DJT, has stayed at relatively high levels since Trump won the election earlier this month. While the shares appeared to trade as a proxy for the former president's election odds, and as a way for speculators to make money off volatility, the company itself has been dogged by concerns that its current business plans won't generate enough revenue to make the stock price sustainable.

That's where a new business such as TruthFi could come into play. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been surging on optimism that the new administration will be friendly to the asset class. A payment platform might allow DJT to make money from the industry.

As it stands, the social media business doesn't earn the company much money--it made about $1 million in sales in the quarter ended in September. But its current market capitalization is more than $6 billion.

DJT was up 0.4% at $30.60 in premarket trading Friday. The stock traded above $50 just before the election after falling as low as $12 in September. It's been relatively stable at around $30 since the beginning of November.

Trump Media & Technology Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday.

Write to Brian Swint at brian.swint@barrons.com

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November 22, 2024 07:37 ET (12:37 GMT)

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