Trump family joins forces with Hut 8 to launch Bitcoin mining venture

The Trump family is entering the Bitcoin ( BTC ) mining business with a new company called American Bitcoin.

According to the press release dated March 31, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have teamed up with publicly trading crypto infrastructure firm Hut 8 to launch a Bitcoin mining company American Bitcoin. Eric and Donald Trump Jr. will own 20% of the company, while Hut 8 will own the remaining 80%.

Initially, the company will focus on mining operations. Moving forward, Trump mentioned plans to build a strategic Bitcoin reserve and potentially go public.

“From the start, we’ve backed our conviction in Bitcoin – personally and through our businesses,” Donald Trump Jr. said. “But simply buying Bitcoin is only half the story. Mining it on favorable economics opens an even bigger opportunity.”

This venture is part of the Trump family’s expanding involvement in the crypto sector, which also includes other projects like World Liberty Financial and a potential stablecoin .

Despite concerns about Bitcoin mining’s environmental impact, Eric Trump, who will serve as the company’s chief strategy officer, says that lower energy costs in the U.S. will give American miners a competitive edge globally. Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8, also noted that American Bitcoin’s competitive advantage will come from low energy costs and a scalable infrastructure.

In return for 80% stake in American Bitcoin, Hut 8 will supply 61,000 mining machines and host the operations at 11 U.S. data centers. Hut 8’s stock jumped 6.4% after the announcement, but it’s still down 42.8% this year.

Asher Genoot, the CEO of Hut 8, commented on the partnership:

“By carving out our mining business into a standalone entity, which will raise its own capital, we align each segment of the business with its respective cost of capital. The transaction creates two focused yet complementary businesses, each purpose-built for its respective mandate. It evolves Hut 8 toward more predictable, financeable, lower-cost-of-capital segments and establishes American Bitcoin as a pure-play mining platform built for exahash growth, Bitcoin production, and operating leverage.”