Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT 4.20%) is an evolving and expanding company. It has gone from just focusing on social media to expanding out into video streaming, financial services, and also crypto. And it's that latter opportunity, in crypto, which may have the most potential to light a fire under the stock.
Recently, Trump Media announced a big investment into crypto. It's out of the playbook of another stock, Strategy, which has amassed gains of nearly 3,000% in just the past five years. A strategy focused on buying Bitcoin (BTC 0.59%) may not necessarily lead to those types of returns for Trump Media shareholders, but it could still be a positive catalyst for the stock.
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Trump Media raises more than $2.4 billion as part of crypto strategy
On May 30, Trump Media announced it closed a private placement offering worth over $2.4 billion. And it says it plans to use around $2.3 billion of that to set up a bitcoin treasury and also for working capital needs and general corporate purposes. But the vast majority appears as though it will be spent on crypto, with Trump Media stating in the release, "The company's strategy will make Trump Media one of the top bitcoin holders among publicly traded U.S. firms."
With Bitcoin trading at around $100,000, however, it won't be cheap to acquire the cryptocurrency. Assuming close to $2.3 billion were used to buy the digital currency, that would be enough for Trump Media to acquire around 23,000 bitcoins.
A strategy right out of Strategy's playbook
One stock that has benefited enormously from loading up on bitcoins is Strategy, which was formerly known as MicroStrategy. As of June 2, the company had close to 581,000 bitcoins, making it the largest corporate holder of the digital currency. By investing in Bitcoin, Strategy has seen its share price skyrocket. In five years, Strategy's stock has risen by close to 3,000% -- even though it struggled to grow its revenue (the company also provides business intelligence solutions, but evolved into primarily a bitcoin treasury).
Unless Trump Media raises drastically more money for crypto purchases, it's not going to get anywhere near Strategy's stockpile. But if it's able to acquire more than 20,000 bitcoins, then that would still be enough to make its position among the largest in the corporate world. And by loading up on bitcoin, it could attract more crypto investors and lead to greater returns for the tech stock down the road.
Should you buy shares of Trump Media?
Trump Media's fundamentals aren't great. In the trailing 12 months, the company incurred an operating loss of more than $127 million on revenue totaling just $3.7 million. This is an extremely risky and speculative stock to own. Year to date, it's down more than 35%.
Based on its fundamentals, there isn't much of a reason to invest in the business. But given the hype around crypto, buying bitcoins might lead to greater gains for investors, especially if Bitcoin continues to hit new heights. While I wouldn't expect Strategy-like returns for Trump Media's stock, favorable crypto conditions could give it another reason to rally.
Ultimately, however, this is still an extremely speculative investment. Buying bitcoins may lead to greater gains for the stock, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will last. By purchasing bitcoins and making that a key part of its strategy, Trump Media's stock could be highly vulnerable to Bitcoin's price fluctuations. In good times, that can lead to a soaring valuation, but if the cryptocurrency declines, then the reverse can happen.
Unless you have a high risk tolerance and are bullish on crypto, you may still want to avoid Trump Media stock, despite its potential to soar.
