Trump Media Scraps Truth Predict Launch, Opts for Crypto.com Marketing Deal

Trump Media announced last October that it planned to launch Truth Predict, a prediction market platform, directly on Truth Social, but those plans have now been scrapped. Instead, the company has signed a marketing deal in which users will be directed from the social media platform to Crypto.com's exchange.

Truth Predict has plans to offer contracts on things such as elections, economics, sports, and more. 

Trump Media Changes Course on Truth Predict

On a quarterly earnings call, Trump Media CEO Kevin McGurn was asked about the announcement regarding Crypto.com. 

"We wanted to get focused, and the prediction markets business is already a pretty crowded space with established companies," McGurn said, among other things. 

The marketing agreement with Crypto.com makes some sense in that before this, Trump Media's plans for Truth Predict were to launch the platform through an agreement with Crypto.com's CFTC-registered exchange. 

At the time of the announcement, beta testing was set to roll out nationwide soon after, and Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek mentioned how it would be the first prediction market platform integrated into a social media app. 

In the second quarter, though, Trump Media reported a $238 million loss due to cryptocurrency-related assets. 

Trump Media Exploring Prediction Market Data Licensing

In addition to promoting Crypto.com, Trump Media is also exploring data licensing opportunities. 

"We are evaluating opportunities in the prediction market space for data licensing. We recognize a modest amount of revenue from these agreements today. We believe this can grow into a meaningful, durable contributor, but it is just one piece of a broader media technology strategy that also includes advertising, subscriptions, and our digital asset treasury," McGurn said. 

Prediction market platforms have exploded in popularity in recent years, first gaining traction during the 2024 presidential election, when Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris. 

The most popular contracts to trade on these platforms are sports contracts, and there are millions, if not billions, in daily trading volume, according to TickerTracker. 

Prediction market trading has also sparked controversy and investigations by the CFTC, including a former teleprompter operator for Trump, Gabriel Perez, who was in talks with regulators to "settle allegations that he used his inside knowledge of the president's speeches to win more than $100,000," per ABC News.