Donald Trump's media company files trademark application for 'TruthFi', a crypto payments service

Trump Media & Technology Group, of which President-elect Donald Trump owns a 53% stake, on Monday filed a trademark application for "Truthfi," a platform used for trading digital assets and other payment processing services. The filing also mentioned services for "Downloadable computer software for use as a digital wallet."

The New York Times was the first to report the news on Thursday.

The application was filed the same day a report broke that Trump Media & Technology Group was in “advanced talks” to acquire Bakkt , the crypto platform that offers licensed and regulated custody and trading for digital assets.

"Josh Gerben, a Washington D.C.-based trademark lawyer, said that [Truthfi] filing is a way for Trump Media to reserve the TruthFi name if it goes forward with a crypto business," the Times reports. "He said that companies can usually reserve a name for as long as a few years. But companies typically file a trademark application with the intent to use it."

The Block reached out to Trump Media & Technology Group for comment.

Trump positioned himself as a pro-crypto candidate this year, notably calling for the firing of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler when speaking at an industry conference in July. On Thursday, Gensler announced plans to leave his post on Jan. 20, 2025, the same day Trump will be inaugurated as president.

Trump's team is also considering creating a position specifically focused on crypto policy, a White House-first, according to Bloomberg . "Crypto Dad" Chris Giancarlo is a frontrunner to hold that position, according to Fox Business .

Trump Media & Technology Group's stock (ticker DJT) jumped on Thursday's news, trading higher by 4% at publication time. The stock is up 78% in the year-to-date period, giving the company a market cap near $7 billion.

Bakkt's stock (BKKT) also spiked on the news but has since pared most of those gains. Shares have nearly tripled in price since Monday's report of a possible acquisition, giving the company a $455 million market cap.

Another notable crypto project with ties to Trump — World Liberty Financial — has generated WLFI token sales of $20 million since going live  on Oct. 15, according to Dune Analytics. Half of that total was generated on their first day of sales alone – a far cry from the $300 million  the DeFi project expected to raise.