Trump's quick feed: $100,000 for knowing before

How much would you pay to know a news likely to have an effect on the markets a few milliseconds before the others?

We thought that Silicon Valley had already thoroughly explored the toxicity of business models applicable to a social network: spoliation of time, maximisation of "engagement", aggressive monetisation of attention, etc.

Well, no. You can always go further, although in this case it comes from the US president himself.

According to the Financial Times, Trump Media & Technology Group is offering a premium service of $100,000 per month, which guarantees early access to President Donald Trump's publications in Truth Social, which (obviously) has caused a growing rejection on Wall Street.

It is like monetising the use of insider trading likely to move the financial, foreign exchange and commodity markets due to the unpredictability of its policy. A millisecond advantage can result in millions of dollars in profits.

Lawyers warn of complex legal risks, including possible violations of insider trading laws, the questionable commercialisation of information generated in official government functions and the super conflict of interest (given that Trump has a stake of 1.1 billion dollars in the company).

Obviously, this service facilitates systemic coercion: any macro fund manager, even recognising how perverse, unethical, and legally complicated the "service" is, will probably end up hiring it for not suffering a competitive disadvantage.

Although it is a somewhat special case, this practice shows how the asymmetry of power between large platforms and citizens has no limits, reinforces an oligarchy and favours arbitrariness.

By Diego Hidalgo