Crypto.com, Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) and Yorkville Acquisition Corp. have terminated their plan to form the 「Trump Media Group CRO Strategy」 treasury company, ending a proposed $6.42 billion transaction that had once been framed as a major vote of confidence in CRO.
In a filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 7, the three parties said they were calling off the merger because of the 「current market environment, and changes in business and stakeholder priorities.」 All preparatory work tied to the merger and the digital asset treasury structure has now been halted.
One of the most aggressive treasury trades of the 2025 cycle
The deal was announced in August 2025, at a time when the digital asset treasury, or DAT, trade was at its hottest. That model drew from Strategy’s bitcoin treasury playbook: a listed company raises capital, accumulates a token, and turns its stock into a proxy exposure vehicle for that asset. The corporate bid itself can then become part of the token’s bullish case.
Under the original plan, the parties aimed to create Trump Media Group CRO Strategy through a SPAC merger and position it as the first and largest publicly listed CRO treasury company. The package included $1 billion in CRO, $200 million in cash, $220 million in mandatory exercise warrants, plus a $5 billion equity credit line from Yorkville affiliates, for a total of $6.42 billion.
If completed, the company would have become the world’s largest public holder of CRO. At the time, the structure was marketed as a substantial confidence vote for the token. A year later, that vote never arrived.
Ticker change came before the deal was secure
The pitch was highly visible from the start. In preparation for the merger, Yorkville changed its ticker from YORK to MCGA, an apparent nod to Trump’s MAGA slogan that drew informal readings of 「Make CRO Great Again.」 With the transaction still far from completion at the time, the early ticker switch now looks like an awkward false start.
Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek had previously said the treasury company would become the world’s largest CRO holder, with a market value that could even exceed CRO itself, and that it would keep buying 「forever.」 Those expectations are now gone. On the decision to terminate the deal, Marszalek said only: 「It doesn’t make sense to move forward with the transaction in the current market environment.」
ETF services and Truth Social prediction-market tie-up were also cut
The breakup extended beyond the CRO treasury company itself.
On the same day, Crypto.com also stopped providing services for Yorkville America’s planned ETF products. Yorkville America said its existing and future ETF business would not be affected.
Axios separately reported that Trump Media had also dropped its plan to embed a prediction market directly into Truth Social, a project announced in October 2025 as Truth Predict. Instead, the arrangement was scaled back to directing users to Crypto.com’s prediction market product.
Interim Trump Media CEO Kevin McGurn told Axios that the digital asset treasury trade had become saturated and that staking those assets was becoming less meaningful for Crypto.com. He said the decision was driven by the competitive landscape rather than regulatory concerns, and that he is steering the company back toward its media and data licensing business.
Trump Media has not exited crypto altogether. It remains the 14th-largest publicly listed corporate holder of bitcoin, with more than $600 million in BTC, and recently moved 2,628 BTC to Crypto.com. The company said the transfer was not a sale.
CRO drops below $0.05
After the announcement, CRO fell through $0.05 and touched roughly $0.047, its lowest level since October 2023.
Market data cited in the report shows CRO is down nearly 40% this year and about 70% over the past 12 months. From its all-time high of about $0.89 in November 2021, the token has fallen roughly 95%. Its market capitalization now stands at about $2.2 billion.
The figures point to a simple reality. The treasury announcement had helped create a pulse of confidence premium around CRO, but that premium needed real and sustained buying to hold. Once the expected buyer stepped away, the premium disappeared with it.
The DAT narrative faces fresh pressure
A post discussing the news on Reddit’s r/CryptoCurrency raised a sharper question: whether this kind of DAT treasury structure is, at its core, a mechanism for manufacturing artificial demand and lifting token prices rather than building around real utility. In that view, when deals like this collapse, the underlying token can fall sharply because the thesis rests on a company buying and holding, not on the token’s own use case or adoption.
The report noted that this is not an isolated concern. Just last week, Strategy, the largest bitcoin treasury company, was reported to have sold bitcoin multiple times this year, weakening its 「never sell」 narrative. From Strategy to MCGA, the 2025 wave of 「public company buys token, token goes up」 treasury trades appears to be losing steam.
Questions now reach beyond a single failed transaction
For CRO holders, the concern is not limited to the merger collapse. Crypto.com has also reduced cardholder benefits in recent weeks. Cashback on the Ruby card was cut from 2% to 1.5%, while the uncapped 4% cashback on the Icy White card was removed. The company has also seen several executives leave.
Taken together, the failed treasury plan, weaker card perks and executive departures have widened the market’s focus. What is being reassessed now is not only one broken deal, but Crypto.com’s fundamentals as well.