On March 31, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. announced that themselves and cryptocurrency firm Hut 8 would start a Bitcoin mining firm called American Bitcoin.
Eric Trump serves as chief strategy officer for American Bitcoin. A business entity he formed with his older brother, Donald Trump Jr., controls 20 percent of the new company.
The New York Times
American Bitcoin already has a stash of 215 Bitcoin, which is roughly worth $22.5 million at prices as of the time in which this article is written.
As is the modus operandi of the Trump sons, this new venture is the result of a massive conflict of interest. Trump Senior has stopped Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuits against corrupt cryptocurrency firms, created a national Bitcoin reserve to bolster the price of it, and appointed crypto-friendly financial regulators such as Brian Quintenz. Trump’s sons publicly touted this conflict of interest when referring to Trump’s energy policies, which will supposedly help the energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining industry.
Conflicts of interest have also impacted Trump’s tariff policies. Gryphon Digital Mining, which is a public firm that is merging with American Bitcoin, warned about the impact of tariffs, as most Bitcoin mining machines are from China. The chief executive of MARA, Fred Thiel, quipped:
“I do find it rather comical that American Bitcoin is running all Chinese equipment,” Mr. Thiel said.
The New York Times
Trump reversed some of his tariffs on China on May 12, the same day that American Bitcoin announced that it would be publicly traded. The timing would be a great coincidence, if it is one.
