Key facts
- Truth API provides real-time, machine-readable access to posts from top Truth Social accounts.
- The service aims to give trading firms a speed advantage of milliseconds.
- Customers are expected to be high-frequency and algorithmic trading firms.
- The company has not disclosed specific customers or pricing, but reports suggest monthly fees could be up to $100,000.
- The service has faced criticism from some politicians and legal questions regarding insider trading.
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) has launched Truth API, a new paid data feed offering institutional investors and Wall Street firms real-time access to posts from the platform's most influential accounts, including Donald Trump's. The service aims to provide subscribers with information in milliseconds, catering to high-frequency and algorithmic trading firms that rely on speed for profit. TMTG anticipates the service will generate a steady revenue stream for the loss-making company, with potential monthly fees reported to be as high as $100,000. However, the launch has ignited controversy and legal questions. Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff have urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate whether the service constitutes illegal insider trading, arguing that profiting from the president's public statements undermines market integrity. TMTG has defended the API, asserting that the information is publicly available and that the senators misunderstand free markets and insider trading laws. Former ethics lawyer Richard Painter suggested that if posts relate to US government business, selling access could be viewed as insider trading. Some trading professionals, like Joe Saluzzi of Themis Trading, have questioned the API's value for firms not equipped for nanosecond-level trading, suggesting it is primarily for specialized high-frequency traders.