According to the company’s press release, some of the filed trademarks include Truth.Fi Bitcoin Plus ETF, Truth.Fi Bitcoin Plus SMA, and Truth.Fi Made in America ETF. Meanwhile, World Liberty Financial, a DeFi platform that is also backed by the Trump family, is planning a strategic crypto reserve. On the broader crypto front, Gemini, the exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, is considering an IPO, reviving its plans from back in 2021.
Trump Media Eyes Financial Services Expansion
Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Donald Trump’s Truth Social, announced on Feb. 6, 2025, that it applied for multiple trademarks related to financial products, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and separately managed accounts (SMAs). According to the company’s press release, the trademarks include Truth.Fi Bitcoin Plus ETF, Truth.Fi Bitcoin Plus SMA, and Truth.Fi Made in America ETF, among others. These filings are part of TMTG’s new financial technology strategy, Truth.Fi, which was approved by the company’s board late last month.
TMTG CEO Devin Nunes stated that the goal of these investment products is to provide investors with an alternative to traditional funds while still aligning with “America First” principles. He stated that the company wants to offer investment opportunities focused on American energy, manufacturing, and businesses that stand in contrast to what he described as "woke funds and debanking problems" in the market. Nunes also revealed that the company is exploring various strategies related to bitcoin as part of its product differentiation strategy.
The company allocated $250 million, that is custodied by Charles Schwab, to support this expansion, and Truth.Fi is set to launch later this year. According to Nunes, this new venture is a natural extension of the Truth Social movement that is tied to TMTG’s broader vision of integrating financial services into its ecosystem.
TMTG has been making it a priority to expand its reach since launching Truth Social in February of 2022 and its streaming platform, Truth+, late last year. However, the company also faced some legal scrutiny, particularly concerning former President Donald Trump’s business dealings. In December 2024, Trump transferred $4 billion in TMTG shares to a trust managed by his son, Donald Trump Jr., in what appeared to be an effort to mitigate potential conflicts of interest.
The former president and his business ventures have been under increased speculation since his inauguration on Jan. 20. Just days before the trademark filings, Trump and his wife, Melania, launched their own meme coins, which were met with both praise and a lot of criticism from the cryptocurrency community.
The move also attracted the attention of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, which sent a letter on Feb. 5 to officials at the Department of Justice and the US Office of Government Ethics. The letter alleged that Trump’s meme coin violates anti-solicitation guidelines, and argued that investors receive only a digital receipt on the blockchain by comparing it to a donor sending a check and receiving digital confirmation.
World Liberty Financial Plans Strategic Crypto Reserve
World Liberty Financial, the decentralized finance platform that is also backed by President Donald Trump and his family, is planning to create a “strategic reserve” with the tokens it buys, according to co-founder Chase Herro. At the Ondo Summit in New York on Thursday, Herro did not share any details about the size of the reserve or its intended use but stated that the platform’s plans to build financial infrastructure in the crypto space. The announcement happened after World Liberty Financial bought $470,000 worth of Ondo Finance's token on the same day, according to a Bloomberg report.
Donald Trump Jr. appeared on stage alongside Herro at the event. The concept of a strategic crypto reserve is not new to the Trump administration, as President Trump previously floated the idea of a national bitcoin reserve during his presidential election campaign. Earlier this week, David Sacks, Trump’s newly appointed “crypto czar,” also confirmed that the administration embraced a pro-crypto stance, and stated that it will evaluate the feasibility of creating a strategic bitcoin reserve as part of its broader digital asset policy.
Despite the optimism surrounding the project, World Liberty Financial has faced some financial turbulence. The platform’s treasury, which once held a large amount of crypto assets, experienced an estimated 90% drawdown, now sitting at approximately $35 million. On Monday, the project moved millions of dollars worth of tokens, including AAVE, ENA, ETH, LINK, and WBTC, which also contributed to its declining reserves. While the creation of a strategic reserve could somewhat stabilize the platform, there are still many questions about its financial strategy and the extent of Trump’s influence on its direction.
Winklevoss Twins Consider Taking Gemini Public
The Trump family is not the only group making moves in the crypto space. The founders of crypto exchange Gemini, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, are reportedly considering taking the company public as early as this year.
According to a Feb. 6 report from Bloomberg, Gemini is in discussions with potential advisers about an initial public offering, though no final decisions have been made yet. The exchange previously explored the idea of a public listing in 2021 but did not move forward with the plan at the time.
In January of 2021, the Winklevoss brothers stated that they were monitoring market conditions and internally debated whether a public listing made sense. Around the same period, Gemini also considered a potential merger with Digital Currency Group. CEO Barry Silbert claimed that this move could have positioned the company as a major competitor to Coinbase and FTX. However, the merger never actually materialized, and Digital Currency Group later filed for bankruptcy in late 2022.
The renewed IPO discussions are happening at a time when the crypto industry expects more public listings from major firms. Crypto asset manager Bitwise recently predicted that at least five crypto unicorns will go public in 2025, and named Circle, Figure, and Kraken as the most likely candidates. On Feb. 5, Bloomberg also reported that Bullish Global, a crypto exchange backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, is considering its own IPO.
Gemini’s potential move toward an IPO follows a series of regulatory and financial developments for the company. In January, Gemini agreed to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit with the US commodities regulator over allegations of providing false or misleading statements during its 2017 attempt to launch the first US-regulated Bitcoin futures contract. The company settled without admitting or denying liability. Additionally, Gemini returned approximately $1.1 billion to customers of its Earn Program through the Genesis Global Capital bankruptcy proceedings and paid a $37 million penalty for compliance failures that were deemed a threat to the company’s financial stability.
