Crypto.com, Trump Media pull back from Truth Predict and CRO treasury plan

Two planned collaborations between Trump Media & Technology Group and Crypto.com are officially off the table. The canceled initiatives include a prediction-market service for Truth Social and Truth+, a proposed treasury company centered on CRO, and an arrangement for Crypto.com to handle certain ETF offerings.

Announced in October, the prediction-market service was designed as a product called Truth Predict. It would have allowed users to trade event contracts, including sports derivatives, directly through the Truth platforms. The plan called for beta trials ahead of a national launch.

Had it been deployed, Truth Predict would have given Truth Social the distinction of being the first big social network to offer prediction markets natively, leveraging its substantial built-in user base.

CRO is the native token of Crypto.com's Cronos ecosystem, a collection of networks aimed at decentralized finance, gaming, and other Web3 use cases.

In a statement reported by Bloomberg, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said the current climate made the proposed ETFs and the treasury company unattractive. "After analyzing these proposed ETFs and DAT from every angle, we've reached the same conclusion: moving forward under current market conditions doesn't make sense," he said, adding that the exchange remains open to other ETF possibilities.

The move tracks with a downturn in crypto sentiment. Bitcoin sits well below last year's highs, and investor enthusiasm for crypto-heavy treasury strategies has faded. Marszalek said the CRO earmarked for the canceled treasury plan will be put to a different purpose, adding that the firm will "find a better way to allocate these resources" to support revenue, demand, and ecosystem growth.

The scrapping of the Truth Social agreement comes as prediction markets gain ground, especially sports event contracts that regulators and gaming companies view as similar to conventional sports betting.

Crypto.com already collaborates with Fanatics and FanDuel on prediction markets and runs its own consumer platform, OG. The exchange also took in $400 million from Citadel Securities in a round that valued it at around $20 billion.

Trump Media has been extending its reach beyond social media. In December, it unveiled plans to combine with privately held fusion developer TAE Technologies in an all-share deal worth more than $6 billion.