Donald Trump Jr. has sparked fresh interest with a $4 million stake in Thumzup Media Corp., a little-known Los Angeles startup navigating the crowded world of social media and advertising tech.
Thumzup, which pays everyday users to promote brands on Instagram, hasn’t made much noise financially as it reported just $151 in revenue and over $2 million in losses in the first quarter of 2025.
Still, the company has become a curious symbol of a rising trend: businesses stockpiling cryptocurrency as part of their corporate strategy.
Trump Jr.’s 350,000 shares’ worth move seems less about short-term earnings and more about backing a new kind of digital play.
Thumzup’s board has greenlit a bold shift in strategy: allowing up to 90% of the company’s liquid assets to be held in Bitcoin.
As of early July, the company held 19.106 BTC, roughly $2.1 million at current market value.
While the “Bitcoin treasury” playbook has been popularized by companies like MicroStrategy, Thumzup appears to be taking it a step further.
After raising $6 million in a recent private funding round, the board gave the go-ahead to diversify its crypto holdings to include Ethereum, Solana, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Ripple, and USD Coin.
Company leaders say the expanded portfolio is designed not just to hedge against Bitcoin’s volatility, but also to tap into the broader upside of the crypto market.
It also opens the door for accepting crypto payments from Thumzup’s growing base of over 1,000 advertisers.
Trump family’s growing interest in crypto
The Trump family is making deeper inroads into the crypto world.
Both Donald Trump Jr. and his brother Eric are advising Dominari Securities, the firm that led Thumzup’s recent funding round and began investing in a Bitcoin ETF earlier this year.
Eric has also taken a seat on the board of Metaplanet, a Japanese company that pivoted from the hospitality business to becoming a major Bitcoin holder.
At the same time, Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, recently locked in $2.3 billion in funding, much of it reportedly aimed at Bitcoin-related investments.
The Trump family’s deepening ties to cryptocurrency mark a sharp shift from their earlier stance. Once a vocal skeptic, former President Donald Trump now says he wants to make the US the “crypto capital of the world.”
For the Trumps, embracing crypto isn’t just about financial opportunity, it’s also a strategic move to connect with a growing base of digital asset enthusiasts and stay relevant in a fast-changing economic landscape.
