Updates in sixth graph with comment from Trump Media and in last graph that the the White House, the SEC, the Trump Organization, Crypto.com and Yorkville America Digital did not immediately respond to requests for comment; edits

By Michelle Conlin

NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the U.S. securities regulator on Friday about its plans to supervise exchange-traded funds due to be launched by a company founded and majority-owned by President Donald Trump, citing concerns about conflicts of interest.

"All SEC decisions and actions involving (Trump Media & Technology Group) and President Trump’s financial interests should be carefully managed to ensure that they are free from undue political interference and influence from the President and his administration," Warren said in a letter, seen by Reuters, to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins.

The senator, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate's banking committee, requested Atkins preserve all communications about the deal between the president’s Trump Media & Technology Group DJT.O and a cryptocurrency firm due to host trading of the ETF and other investment products, some of which will include digital assets.

Warren told Atkins that Trump Media’s announcement of plans to sell investment products that require SEC approval represented an "extraordinary conflict of interest” in which a sitting president is asking an agency he controls “to approve investments he controls.”

The president, Warren said, "has attempted to assert his dominance over decision-making at independent agencies like the SEC."

Trump Media responded in an emailed statement to Reuters: “Rather than acting to stop actual corruption on the stock market and the rampant, illegal naked short selling of stocks, Senator Warren protects hedge fund bosses and her rich donors while harassing and intimidating America-First companies.”

PIVOT TO CRYPTO DRAWS SCRUTINY

Given that Republicans have majority control of both the U.S. House and Senate, the Democratic Party has limited ability to call for public hearings or formal investigations. Warren's letter does not cite any legal authority that would compel the agency to honor her requests. It requested a response by May 2.

Trump Media's pivot to crypto is the latest move by the Trump family to establish beachheads in the industry as the president has promised to usher in a "golden age" for digital assets by easing enforcement and regulations.

Those developments have drawn scrutiny from government ethics watchdogs because the president’s family stands to profit from his official decisions. Since Trump was elected, the Trump family’s new crypto ventures have earned them hundreds of millions of dollars in fees alone.

Democrats three weeks ago asked the SEC to preserve records on Trump's new World Liberty Financial crypto project to shed light on how "the Trump family's financial interest in World Liberty Financial may be influencing" the SEC.

A White House spokesperson said then: "President Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest."

The Trump Organization said in January that because his trust would be managed by his children, the president would play no role in day-to-day operations or decision-making.

On April 22, Trump Media & Technology Group said it had reached a binding agreement with Crypto.com and Yorkville America Digital to roll out retail investment products including crypto in its latest bid to diversify into financial services.

The Trump family's stake in Trump Media – it owns about 60% of the company’s stock – is now valued at $3 billion. Unlike the broader stock market, which has suffered steep losses amidst the President's trade war, Trump Media shares have risen 40% since April 2, when Trump announced his sweeping plan for steep tariffs with other countries.

The White House, the SEC, the Trump Organization, Crypto.com and Yorkville America Digital did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting By Michelle Conlin. Editing by Tom Lasseter, Aurora Ellis and Cynthia Osterman)

((Michelle.Conlin@thomsonreuters.com))