Trump Media and Crypto.com scrapped a planned $6.42 billion treasury venture built around Cronos (CRO), citing market conditions and shifting corporate priorities.
Key Points:
- Trump Media, Crypto.com and Yorkville Acquisition Corp. ended plans for a publicly traded Cronos treasury company.
- The firms also dropped a services agreement and a plan to bring prediction market contracts to Truth Social.
- A separate investigation tied a $100 million World Liberty token purchase to an active British money laundering inquiry.
Trump Media Ends Cronos Treasury Venture
The two companies, along with Yorkville Acquisition Corp., terminated the proposed Trump Media Group CRO Strategy on Friday, according to a joint statement first reported by Axios. Crypto.com will also stop servicing the blank-check firm's exchange-traded fund plans, although the existing Truth Social branded funds continue to operate.
The venture would have licensed the Trump Media name to a publicly traded company that accumulated CRO and staked those holdings for extra yield. Interim chief executive Kevin McGurn said the digital asset treasury sector had grown crowded as more public companies copied the same balance sheet playbook. The two firms separately dropped a services agreement and a plan to bring prediction market contracts to Truth Social.
CRO fell as much as 5% after the announcement and changed hands near $0.048 on Monday. Trump Media bought $105 million of the token in September 2025 as part of the wider partnership, and that position was not unwound.
Also Read: Airbnb Stock Jumps 17% As CEO Says AI Resolves 45% Of Support Issues Without Human Help
World Liberty Investor Faces Laundering Inquiry
A New York Times investigation published Sunday identified Guren "Bobby" Zhou as the businessman behind Aqua 1, the Abu Dhabi fund that bought $100 million of World Liberty Financial (WLFI) governance tokens in June 2025. British authorities arrested Zhou in 2021 on suspicion of money laundering, and prosecutors have never charged him. Officials said the inquiry was still active in late July.
Corporate filings showed that a Web3Port entity registered in the British Virgin Islands was renamed Aqua 1 GP Limited about two weeks before the purchase was announced. Zhou earlier ran a British flooring retailer that entered restructuring owing roughly $5 million to a company controlled by his father.
Trump Crypto Ventures Draw Congressional Scrutiny
Under World Liberty's revenue split, as much as $75 million from the Aqua 1 purchase flowed to a company controlled by Donald Trump and his sons.
A spokesperson said the firm followed applicable laws and ran a compliance program that meets or exceeds industry standards. The White House said the president has no conflicts of interest.
Congressional interest in the family's crypto holdings has been building for more than a year, and five Democratic senators asked in June for hearings into a reported $500 million Emirati stake in World Liberty. Trump Media, for its part, still holds 9,542 Bitcoin (BTC) and roughly 756 million CRO on its balance sheet, and it is now pursuing a merger with fusion energy company TAE.
Read Next: Google DeepMind Loses Four Founding-Era Leaders In A Single Day
