Trump media near all stock deal to buy crypto platform bucket

The move represents the first venture by the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), which has branched out to Truth Social, a social media platform.

Shares of both TMTG and Buckt jumped after that. FT Report bucket closed up 163%, TMTG stock was up 16% on the day.

Bakkt was founded in 2018 by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the company that also owns the New York Stock Exchange. ICE currently owns about 55% of Bucket, which has a market cap of about $150 million dollars.

ICE declined to comment. TMTG and Bakkt did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Both companies have struggled financially this year. In February, Buckett issued a “going concern” warning, meaning it doesn’t believe it will have enough cash to continue operations.

Meanwhile, TMTG has yet to turn a profit, having lost millions of dollars since it went public in March. Despite its poor performance, TMTG is one of the most traded stocks in the market, indicating that it is a meme stock that trades independent of business fundamentals.

Bucket’s previous CEO was Kelly Loeffler, who resigned in December 2019 upon her appointment as a Georgia senator. Loeffler is now the chair of Trump’s inaugural committee. Her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is the CEO of ICE.

Trump is already involved in the crypto industry, launching World Liberty Financial in September.

TMTG’s expansion into another holding could have major implications for the president-elect’s net worth. Trump’s 53% ownership stake in TMTG is worth about $3.7 billion based on Monday’s stock price.