Trump family increases cryptocurrency investments with new Bitcoin mining venture
The Trump family has increased its investment in cryptocurrency: Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., sons of US President Donald Trump, have received a 20% stake in a newly formed mining venture called American Bitcoin, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The deal brings together the Trump brothers' company, American Data Centers, with a mining firm majority-owned by crypto infrastructure company Hut 8. Together, the companies aim to build what they call the world's largest Bitcoin mining operation — complete with its own reserve of digital assets.
In recent months, the Trump family has already launched a decentralized financial platform (World Liberty Financial), announced plans to issue stablecoins backed by the US dollar, introduced meme tokens associated with Donald and Melania Trump, and Trump himself has declared his intention to make the US a world leader in digital assets.
As part of the deal, Hut 8 will transfer approximately 61,000 Bitcoin mining rigs to American Bitcoin in exchange for 80% ownership in the new company. No cash was exchanged. Eric Trump will serve as chief strategy officer of American Bitcoin, which is expected to eventually go public. The company will operate independently of the Trump Organization, although Eric Trump has said that a future partnership with World Liberty Financial is possible.
Despite the similarities to President Trump's recently announced US strategic cryptocurrency reserve, American Bitcoin management emphasized that the company's own Bitcoin reserve is a separate initiative.
Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot said the combined company will leverage access to cheap energy and efficient data center infrastructure to remain competitive in the crowded and increasingly expensive Bitcoin mining market. The Miami-based firm owns 11 data centers that will house Bitcoin mining equipment from American Bitcoin.
"There is still 100-plus years of bitcoin mining left, and bitcoin continues to appreciate," says Genoot. "Being the cheapest Bitcoin miner is how you can survive volatility and scale."
Mike Ho, Hut 8’s chief strategy officer, will become American Bitcoin’s executive chairman, while former Hut 8 chief commercial officer Matt Prusak will take over as CEO. The board of directors will include Ho, Guenoth, and prominent venture capitalists Justin Mateen (co-founder of Tinder) and Michael Brougham (co-founder of FabFitFun).