You probably have never heard of GD Culture Group until now, but the small technology company with ties to China managed to grab headlines—including this one—with the promise of purchasing $300 million worth of $TRUMP, the memcoin owned primarily by organizations tied to the current President of the United States. The New York Times reported that the struggling firm issued a securities filing announcing its intent to try to buy some favor with Donald Trump.
Per the filing, GD Culture Group has secured $300,000,000 from an investor who will purchase shares of the company’s stock. It plans to use to the money from the sale to “invest in Bitcoin and OFFICIAL TRUMP and for general corporate purposes.” The company claims aping into $TRUMP will “enhance its balance sheet with high-performance, scalable digital assets,” which seems pretty dubious given the coin has only existed for a few months and has been wildly volatile during that time.
It should be noted that GD Culture Group is kind of a nothing of a company. According to the Times, it has eight total employees and a Chinese subsidiary brand and it operates an e-commmerce business on TikTok, from which it recorded zero revenue in 2024. Last month, it revealed that it was at risk of losing its listing on the NASDAQ after failing to meet financial requirements.
Which brings us to the Trump of it all. There are two possibilities of what GD Culture Group is pulling here, and neither of them speaks particularly well of the President of the United States operating an influence peddling operation via memecoin.
Taking GD Culture Group at their word that they will purchase $TRUMP, it’s a pretty clear-cut attempt to curry favor with the leader of the free world while the company is in a tight spot. It probably could use some tariff relief, given its e-commerce operation and ties to China. Buying right now gives the company the opportunity to sit down directly with the President, as the team behind $TRUMP set up a promotion that will allow the top bag holders to have a private dinner with the President. GD Culture Group isn’t the first company to explicitly try this, either—a North American-based freight company announced a similar plan to get in the room with Trump by buying up his token.
But given how non-committal the language of the filing is, it’s entirely possible that this is just a media play for the company. The Times called into question the possibility that GD Culture Group will actually follow through on its announcement, or if it even has the money to do so. But just announcing that it would get into the $TRUMP business has been a bit of a boon. The company’s stock jumped 12% immediately following the announcement.
So either this company is actually trying to buy influence by lining the pockets of the President, or the market will simply reward anyone who claims to be willing to go down that route. Neither of those options seems all that great.
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