Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.’s stake in American Bitcoin is worth more than $1.5 billion after its roaring stock debut on Wednesday.
The bitcoin-mining company more than doubled its value, soaring as much as 110% higher intraday before pulling back to close up 16.5% at $8.04 in its first day of trade on the Nasdaq.
About 20% of American Bitcoin is owned by President Trump’s eldest sons, according to Asher Genoot, the company’s executive chairman.
At the stock’s highest price on Wednesday, that stake was valued at $2.6 billion.
American Bitcoin’s Nasdaq debut came after it completed its merger with Gryphon Digital Mining in March.
Roughly 98% of the combined company is owned by Eric, Don Jr., bitcoin miner Hut 8 and other shareholders, while Gryphon controls the rest.
“Crypto is exploding,” Eric told Reuters on Wednesday. “I would be saying right now, the crypto space is at least 50% of what I’m doing.”
Already this year, he has travelled to cities including Dubai, Hong Kong and Tokyo in an effort to gain international support for the crypto industry.
It’s a notable shift in Trump’s family business, which has long focused on luxury real estate projects and international golf courses.
World Liberty Financial – the Trump Organization’s flagship crypto venture – has earned the family around $500 million since its launch last year, according to Reuters.
Its debut of digital tokens on Monday earned the Trumps as much as $5 billion in paper wealth, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Trump Media & Technology Group and Crypto.com notched a deal last month with a blank-check company to launch a new venture that will pursue a treasury-style strategy to buy the digital token CRO.
Earlier this year, before his inauguration, Trump even launched meme coins based on photos of him and First Lady Melania Trump.
Critics have argued that the business ventures present a conflict of interest, as the Trump family is profiting from cryptocurrency as the president works to ease regulations on the industry.
Eric dismissed this backlash as “insane.”
“My father has absolutely nothing to do with this venture,” Eric told Reuters. “[He’s] running a nation. He’s not involved in our businesses in any way, shape or form.”
Eric, Trump’s second oldest son, is co-founder and chief strategy officer at American Bitcoin – though he claims to operate as more of a spokesperson.
“Crypto had a very bad voice for a long time. They really had a hard time communicating a message,” he said.
“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.
In a filing on Wednesday, American Bitcoin said it is also selling $2.1 billion worth of shares, with plans to use the cash to buy bitcoins and bitcoin mining machines.
Bitcoin mining is a competitive, complex process by which miners use hardware and software to generate the right combination of numbers to launch new bitcoins into circulation.
The number of bitcoins that can be created is capped at 21 million. Since more than 90% of these have already been released, investors are scrambling to capitalize on the remaining pool.
“American Bitcoin is going to be the greatest treasury company ever built,” Eric told the Journal.
Thus far, it has stockpiled about 2,443 bitcoin, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In June, the company raised $220 million in cash and bitcoin from high-profile investors, including the billionaire Winklevoss twins, who co-founded crypto exchange Gemini.
American Bitcoin said it used those funds to buy more digital tokens and mining equipment.
