Chinese firms' plan to avoid stock delisting: Buy Trump's memecoin

More companies announce plans to buy cryptocurrencies to help lift their share prices

- Vicky Ge Huang

Some small Chinese companies are betting President Trump's memecoin will help them save their shares from losing a place on U.S. exchanges. A technology company called GD Culture Group said on May 12 that it had struck a $300 million funding deal to help it amass a stockpile of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and the president's memecoin, $TRUMP.

The announcement sent shares of GD Culture, which is based in New York but operates in China, up by 14%.

Three days later, Chinese garment maker Addentax Group said it was in discussions with unnamed crypto holders to buy up to $800 million of $TRUMP tokens and bitcoin. Addentax's stock didn't quite get the same boost, falling about 7% that Thursday after an intraday surge of more than 150%.

GD Culture and Addentax share more than just ties to China and a mutual affinity for the president's memecoin: They are both in danger of being delisted from Nasdaq, a major U.S. exchange. And by promoting investments in crypto (and Trump), these companies might simply be grasping for ways to raise their stock prices and hold on to their U.S. listings, securities-industry executives said.