Trump Sons' Crypto Gamble Pays Off Big: Eric Trump's Stake In American Bitcoin Reaches $1.5 Billion In Stock Debut

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Amid US President Donald Trump's family grows their crypto business interests , a bitcoin company tied to his two oldest sons more than doubled in value in its stock market debut on Wednesday and valued the sons' stake at well over $1.5 billion, reported the Reuters.

In its first day of trade on the Nasdaq, the shares in American Bitcoin Corp, a bitcoin miner, soared as high as $14.52 before pulling back to be up 16.5% at $8.04 by the end of the day.

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Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr owns 20 percent stocks in American Bitcoin Corp, said its Chairman Asher Genoot in a previous interview.

Based on 908.6 million outstanding shares that American Bitcoin said it had in a September 2 stock exchange filing, the Trump brothers' stake in American Bitcoin was at $1.5 billion at the close of trade. The highest price struck by the stock on Wednesday valued their stake at $2.6 billion.

Crypto ventures:

According to the report, Crypto ventures have become an important driver of growth and potential windfall profits for the president's family. In the past, the Trump Organisation - the family business of the Trump family - focused on building and running real estate projects and golf courses.

"Crypto is exploding. I would be saying right now, the crypto space is at least 50% of what I'm doing," Reuters quoted Eric Trump as saying in an interview on Wednesday.

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However, the Trump family's forays into crypto have drawn criticisms from Democratic lawmakers and government ethics watchdogs about conflicts of interests.

The critics claimed Trump the Trump family is profiting from crypto at the same time when the president is easing regulations and enforcement on the industry.

While, the second son of Trump – Eric – dismissed such criticisms on Wednesday as "insane."

"My father has absolutely nothing to do with this venture. He's is running a nation. He's not involved in our businesses in any way, shape or form," Eric Trump said.

Eric Trump holds the titles of co-founder and chief strategy officer at American Bitcoin.

"Crypto had a very bad voice for a long time. They really had a hard time communicating a message. I think I've become one of the great spokespeople for crypto over the last, call it, you know, 12 to 18 months," he said.

"I think I've been able to put a great voice on that, not just here in the U.S., but worldwide."

Earlier, President Donald Trump had promised to back the asset class as it can improve the banking system and increase the dominance of the U.S. dollar, according to him.

Also Read | Trump family amasses $6 billion fortune after crypto launch

This year, Eric travelled internationally to cities including Dubai, Hong Kong and Tokyo to rally foreign support for the crypto industry.

In 2024, the Trump family has launched a string of crypto ventures – from American Bitcoin to World Liberty Financial. Trump also launched meme coins before the president's inauguration in January.

On Monday, World Liberty Financial – that debuted digital tokens known as $WLFI – earned the first family around $500 million since its launch in 2024, says Reuters calculations.

In August, Trump Media & Technology Group and Crypto agreed to a deal with a blank-check acquisition company to launch a new venture that will pursue a treasury-style strategy to buy the digital token CRO.

Hut 8 Corp, an energy infrastructure company that is also involved in bitcoin mining, owns about 80% of American Bitcoin.

American Bitcoin said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday it is also selling $2.1 billion worth of shares, and plans to use the proceeds to buy bitcoins or bitcoin mining machines.

With agency inputs.

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