Trump Crypto Plans Face Ethics Talks as Trump Media Ends CRO Deal

Key Insights:

• Trump crypto ethics negotiations now include a possible blind trust.
• Trump Media ended its planned $6.42 billion CRO treasury venture.
• Crypto.com’s Truth Social prediction-market integration was also scaled back.

President Donald Trump said he would accept a blind trust covering crypto interests during ongoing Senate market-structure negotiations. The Trump crypto position emerged as Trump Media separately scaled back two Crypto.com initiatives on August 7, 2026.

The developments exposed two pressure points around the president’s digital-asset exposure. Senate talks remained stalled over ethics rules. Trump Media redirected attention to its media operations and the pending TAE Technologies merger.

Trump Crypto Ethics Talks Remain Unresolved

President Trump told Punchbowl News this week that he did not oppose placing assets into a blind trust. The Financial Times quoted Trump saying, “I don’t mind putting it in a blind trust . . . I let my kids run it.”

The Senate continued negotiating ethics provisions tied to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Reuters reported on August 6, 2026, that lawmakers discussed requirements for Trump to divest crypto-related businesses.

The proposed language could also allow deferred capital-gains taxes on qualifying divestitures, Reuters reported, citing Bloomberg. The White House had not commented on that tax treatment when Reuters published its report.

A July 22 Senate draft took a narrower approach to several Trump crypto interests. Transparency International U.S. said it created a divestment-or-blind-trust safe harbor for certain direct holdings.

The group said other business interests and family arrangements could remain outside clear divestment requirements. Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren also criticized the draft’s ethics and enforcement provisions that day.

Congressional records showed that the House passed H.R. 3633 by a vote of 294-134 on July 17, 2025. The Senate later received the House bill and referred it to the Banking Committee.

The House bill established jurisdictional rules for digital commodities under federal securities and commodities laws. Current Senate negotiations have not produced a final enacted ethics framework.

The Financial Times reported the Senate left without voting before its August recess. The Ethics language remained one obstacle alongside disputes over bank competition and crypto rewards.

Trump Media Ends CRO Treasury Plan

Trump Media, Crypto.com, and Yorkville Acquisition Corp. ended their proposed Cronos treasury combination on Aug. 7. Axios reported that the parties cited prevailing market conditions and shifting business priorities.

The companies had announced the transaction on August 26, 2025. Securities and Exchange Commission filings showed planned funding of up to $6.42 billion.

The structure included $1 billion in CRO from Crypto.com and $200 million in cash. It also included $220 million from warrants and a $5 billion equity credit line.

Trump Media interim CEO Kevin McGurn told Axios that digital-asset treasury competition had become saturated. He attributed the decision more to competitive dynamics than to regulatory concerns around Trump-linked businesses.

That explanation separated the corporate decision from the CLARITY Act ethics negotiations. Available company statements did not establish that the legislative dispute caused the treasury cancellation.

Trump Crypto Pullback Extends to Truth Predict

Trump Media and Crypto.com also revised their planned Truth Social prediction-market integration. The companies shifted from direct integration toward marketing Crypto.com prediction products to Truth Social users.

The earlier Truth Predict plan would have embedded access to prediction markets within Trump Media’s social platform. The revised structure reduced Trump Media’s operating role while preserving a commercial relationship with Crypto.com.

Axios reported that McGurn wanted the company to focus on revenue across Truth Social and its broader media business. He also pointed to the completion of the planned merger with TAE Technologies.

The moves did not mark a complete withdrawal from digital assets. Axios reported that existing Truth Social Funds exchange-traded fund products would continue under the revised arrangement.

TAE Merger Becomes Next Corporate Milestone

Securities and Exchange Commission filings showed Trump Media signed its TAE Technologies merger agreement on December 18, 2025. The all-stock transaction valued the combination at more than $6 billion.

Under the agreement, TAE shareholders and Trump Media shareholders would each hold about half of the combined company. TAE would survive as a wholly owned subsidiary of Trump Media after closing.

That transaction now sits at the center of Trump Media’s stated corporate priorities. McGurn told Axios that management was prioritizing media operations and completion of the TAE deal.

The next verifiable catalyst is Senate action on the CLARITY Act after lawmakers return. The Financial Times reported that Senate Majority Leader John Thune expected a vote in September.

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