‘Cancellation’ Drove Us to Crypto, Says Eric Trump
Eric Trump has revealed that banking difficulties experienced by the Trump Organization propelled the family toward cryptocurrency ventures, describing his father’s company as “the most canceled company, probably on Earth.” The middle son of President Donald Trump made these remarks while discussing the family’s expanding cryptocurrency portfolio, which now includes stablecoins and a newly announced Bitcoin mining operation.
“It actually is what drove us toward cryptocurrency,” Eric Trump told CNBC in a recent interview. “You realize that cryptocurrency was a lot faster, it was a lot more pragmatic, it was a lot more transparent, it was exponentially cheaper.”
The Trump family’s cryptocurrency ambitions have expanded significantly in recent months, with Eric and Donald Trump Jr. announcing their latest venture, American Bitcoin, in partnership with mining company Hut 8. According to the deal structure, Hut 8 will control 80% of the new company, while the remaining 20% goes to American Data Centers, whose investors include the Trump brothers.
Banking Disputes Fuel Crypto Pivot
The move into cryptocurrency follows reported banking challenges for the Trump Organization. Last month, the company sued Capital One in Florida over allegedly closing more than 300 of its bank accounts following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The lawsuit claimed the bank acted on “unsubstantiated, ‘woke’ beliefs that it needed to distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political views.”
Eric Trump described the family’s entry into crypto not as a financial opportunity but as “a form of resistance” during what he called a “war on the industry.” He cited his perception that banks were closing accounts, regulators were targeting exchanges, and crypto users were being “debanked” simply for holding digital currencies.
“They were going after people,” he said. “They were suing everybody. Banks were closing down people that just wanted to own bitcoin.”
Eric Trump says Crypto is the “Future of the Modern Financial System.”https://t.co/3Yv8lhtbvg pic.twitter.com/JKxsLWOGvu
— End Time Headlines (@EndTimeHeadline) April 4, 2025
Growing Crypto Portfolio
American Bitcoin represents the third major cryptocurrency venture launched by the Trump family in the past year. The New York Times reports that during the campaign, Donald Trump and his sons launched World Liberty Financial, offering two types of digital currencies, including a stablecoin unveiled last week.
Then, on the eve of President Trump’s inauguration, both the president and First Lady Melania Trump each launched memecoins, reportedly adding billions in paper wealth to the family’s net worth. Eric Trump, who serves as chief strategy officer for American Bitcoin, emphasized the strategic importance of the mining venture, stating, “every single sophisticated country is using their excess power to mine bitcoin.”
Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8, told CNBC that the company is “carving out the majority of our assets” to put into American Bitcoin. Donald Trump Jr. emphasized the family’s conviction in the cryptocurrency space, stating in the partnership announcement: “From the start, we’ve backed our conviction in Bitcoin, personally and through our businesses. But simply buying Bitcoin is only half the story. Mining it on favorable economics opens an even bigger opportunity.”
Separation from White House Policy
Despite the family’s growing cryptocurrency interests coinciding with the administration’s pro-crypto stance, Eric Trump insisted he maintains no role in government policy. “I don’t have anything to do with government, and frankly, I don’t want anything to do with government,” he stated.
The administration has taken several crypto-friendly actions since returning to power, including signing an executive order to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve and pardoning Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht along with the three co-founders of the BitMEX crypto exchange.
Eric Trump framed cryptocurrency adoption as a matter of national competition, saying, “You better believe that China is running very hard at this. The entire Middle East is running very hard. We won the space race. We better win the crypto race.”
While the Trump Organization unveiled an ethics plan that would limit the president’s involvement in management decisions while in office, cryptocurrency ventures appear to be operating under different parameters, creating potential questions about the intersection of presidential family business interests and national policy.
