Logging on to Truth Social still isn’t a very dynamic user experience; users are mostly getting AI memes, Fox News clips, and posts from Republicans championing President Donald Trump. But some Wall Street traders are about to pony up as much as $100,000 per month to subscribe to a service to get data from Trump’s social-media company the instant that his posts are made public.
On Saturday, Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, is launching Truth API — an “application programming interface” that provides Trump’s posts to subscribers within milliseconds. That may not sound like a six-figure product to a normal person. But to high-frequency traders buying and selling at the fraction of a blink of an eye, it could be worth the investment. Trump makes news on Truth Social. And now a company he owns 41 percent of is selling that news to Wall Street so it can act on it before anyone else can. High-frequency traders need this data fast to be able to win a game where the first computer to get the new info in their algorithm wins. In the world of the HFT, “speed becomes the tiebreaker,” says trader Haim Bodek.
Truth Social says that at least five firms have signed up to pay the $100,000 monthly fee. There will be plenty of opportunities to test its value. Volatility is good for high-frequency trading: You are trying to make money on getting there first, not by staking out a wise position for the long term. Even with so-called TACO trades — Trump Always Chickens Out — the Truth API could be a boon. One high-frequency trader told me subscribed firms can make money in both directions, selling when Trump makes a threat and reversing their position when he inevitably backs off.
