An increasing number of Wall Street clients are signing up for a paid service offered by Trump Media & Technology, which allows users to preview the latest posts on the Truth Social platform before the general public, a feature some economists consider a form of insider trading.
Founded by US President Donald Trump in 2021, Trump Media & Technology revealed that over ten clients have already subscribed to the Truth Social Application Programming Interface, or Truth API. Launched earlier this month, the service enables Wall Street traders to access posts from top platform users, including Trump himself, several milliseconds ahead of the general public. The company charges clients between $60,000 and $100,000 per month for access.
Temporary CEO Kevin McGann stated during the company's earnings call on Monday that most Truth API clients are high-frequency trading firms, but the company is also in discussions with hyperscale cloud providers, major news organizations, and large language model developers to sell the product. He added that plans are underway to extend the tool to the retail trading sector. McGann described the product as being in its "early stages," but expressed being "very encouraged" by the initial progress. "We believe this business can grow into a stable and significant revenue stream over time, but it is just one piece of our broader media technology strategy, which includes advertising, paid subscriptions, and digital asset reserves," McGann said.
The company reported a second-quarter loss of $238 million, more than ten times the loss from the same period last year. The widening losses were attributed to the company's expansion beyond its core media business, including into cryptocurrencies. The launch of Truth API is part of a turnaround plan focused on the company's social media operations. This product highlights Trump's ability to influence market movements through major policy announcements made on the platform.
Controversy over insider trading
The product, combined with Trump's continuing ownership stake in the company, has raised several ethical questions. Trump holds approximately 41% of Trump Media & Technology, allowing him to benefit from the added revenue generated by Truth API's paid clients. With just ten clients, the service could generate up to $1 million per month, or $12 million annually. Industry experts suggest that this new feature essentially allows Trump to monetize his own official statements. Last month, New York Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres filed a petition with the Securities and Exchange Commission, requesting an investigation into Truth API. He argued that a company majority-owned by a sitting president providing traders with faster access to market-moving policy announcements than other users clearly violates the principle that platforms should only license standard data. He added that even a small increase in access to policy information could undermine fair market competition.
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