Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump announced Monday the launch of “American Bitcoin,” a new cryptocurrency mining company created through a partnership with publicly traded firm Hut 8.
The deal gives Hut 8 an 80% stake in the new entity, while the Trump brothers’ American Data Centers Inc. will hold the remaining 20%. Eric Trump will serve as the firm’s chief strategy officer. Donald Trump Jr. described mining as “an even bigger opportunity” in the family’s pro-crypto moves so far.
“From the start, we’ve backed our conviction in Bitcoin — personally and through our businesses,” Donald Trump Jr. said in a Hut 8 press release. “But simply buying Bitcoin is only half the story. Mining it on favorable economics opens an even bigger opportunity. We’re excited to bring investors into that equation through a platform engineered to execute on this thesis and deliver real, tangible participation in Bitcoin’s growth.”
The partnership will reportedly leverage Hut 8’s vast troves of Bitcoin-specific hardware and energy-intensive computing infrastructure to process blockchain transactions and mint new Bitcoin. The Trump-backed company will receive a portion of the returns in exchange for capital and the political visibility that comes with aligning itself with the president’s family. This association could bolster the company’s credibility in Republican circles and offer potential leverage as the administration crafts crypto-friendly regulations. Hut 8’s stock spiked in pre-market trading following the announcement before leveling out by market close.
“We are a hard-asset family. I’m a hard-asset guy,” Eric Trump told the Wall Street Journal. In his role as chief strategy officer, he is expected to shape the company’s long-term direction and public messaging. “My entire life has been spent building things, and I don’t think there is ever a better hedge against all of that than the true digital assets.”
The venture marks the latest in a string of crypto moves from the Trump family, which has recently embraced digital assets as both a business opportunity and a political statement. The firm is now the second crypto venture launched by the two eldest Trump sons in recent months. In September 2024, they cofounded World Liberty Financial, a digital asset company that announced plans Tuesday to release a dollar-pegged stablecoin. A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a fixed value by tying it to a stable asset, typically the U.S. dollar.
President Donald Trump also announced the creation of a U.S. “strategic reserve” of cryptocurrencies early in March. This would include the five largest and most actively traded cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
While the first family’s increasing footprint in the crypto space has drawn praise from some industry leaders, some lawmakers, such as Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are crying foul over what they view as an uncomfortably close alignment between political power and private crypto gains. Still, the president’s two eldest sons seem to have doubled down on messaging to paint Bitcoin as a “financial revolution.”
President Trump, who in 2019 said cryptocurrency was “not money” and “based on thin air,” seems to have become increasingly friendly with the industry throughout his 2024 presidential campaign. During his successful bid for a second term, he promised to foster a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment and potentially position the U.S. as a leader in the digital asset space. In the month following his reelection, Bitcoin surged more than 40% to all-time highs, surpassing a price of $100,000.
The digital asset market has floundered as the president’s “Liberation Day” tariff deadline — April 2 — against Mexico and Canada nears. Bitcoin’s price currently hovers around $83,000 as of Monday.
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