In a significant development for the cryptocurrency sector, Eric Trump and Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot have announced their partnership to establish American Bitcoin, a new bitcoin mining company.
The announcement came during CNBC’s Crypto World program, which also reported bitcoin reaching $85,000 at the start of April despite experiencing consecutive monthly losses in March.
Eric Trump revealed that his family’s experience of being what he described as “the most canceled company, probably on Earth” motivated their entry into cryptocurrency.
“It actually is what drove us toward cryptocurrency,” Trump explained to CNBC. “You realize that cryptocurrency was a lot faster, it was a lot more pragmatic, it was a lot more transparent, it was exponentially cheaper.”
Trump Family Financial Ventures
The Trump family’s relationship with traditional banking has been complicated. Following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, the Trump Organization claims Capital One “unjustifiably” closed over 300 of the company’s bank accounts, alleging the bank acted on “‘woke’ beliefs” about distancing from President Trump’s politics. The organization recently filed a lawsuit in Florida regarding this matter.
This mining venture is not the Trump family’s first foray into cryptocurrency. Prior to Donald Trump’s return to the White House, both he and First Lady Melania Trump launched meme coins. Additionally, Eric and his brother Donald Trump Jr. have announced plans to create a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin through their new venture, World Liberty Financial.
Eric Trump described his cryptocurrency involvement not merely as a financial investment but as “a form of resistance” during what he terms the “war on the industry.” He cited regulatory pressures, account closures, and users being “debanked” simply for owning cryptocurrency as driving factors for his interest.
“At this point, I know almost everybody in the industry in some way, shape or form,” he stated. “I fell in love with the industry, you know, a few years ago, and really dove head in.”
For the new mining venture, Genoot explained they are “carving out the majority of our assets” from Hut 8 and “putting them into American Bitcoin.” Eric Trump, serving as co-founder and chief strategy officer of American Bitcoin, noted that “every single sophisticated country is using their excess power to mine bitcoin.”
Independence From White House?
Despite his family’s connections to the current administration, which has taken a pro-crypto stance, Eric Trump emphasized he has “no role in policy and no contact with the White House.”
Since returning to office, President Trump has established a strategic bitcoin reserve via executive order and pardoned several high-profile crypto figures, including Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and the BitMEX exchange co-founders.
While distancing himself from government involvement, Eric Trump stressed the importance of a regulatory framework allowing cryptocurrency to flourish in the United States. “You better believe that China is running very hard at this. The entire Middle East is running very hard,” he said. “We won the space race. We better win the crypto race.”
