American Bitcoin, a new cryptocurrency mining venture supported by Eric and Donald Trump Jr., made its debut on Nasdaq on Wednesday under the ticker symbol “ABTC.”
This launch marks the Trump family’s second digital asset debut in less than a week, following World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token launch on crypto exchanges on Monday.
American Bitcoin Shares Jump 90%
In a press release, Eric Trump, co-founder and chief strategy officer of American Bitcoin, described the listing as a “historic milestone,” emphasizing the company’s mission to integrate Bitcoin into the core of US capital markets.
In line with President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto agenda, which has created a more accommodating environment for the growth of digital assets in the country, Eric expressed ambition for the US to lead the global Bitcoin economy.
Initially launched as a subsidiary of Hut 8, a publicly traded Bitcoin mining firm, American Bitcoin began trading at $6.90 per share following an all-stock merger with Gryphon Digital Mining.
The ABTC stock experienced a remarkable surge, rising as much as 90% toward its current record of $14.52 in its first hour of trading, although it later settled to over a 40% increase, trading at $9.21 per share.
Asher Genoot, executive chair of American Bitcoin and CEO of Hut 8, stated that the company aims to foster rapid growth in Bitcoin shares by leveraging its mining capabilities and Hut 8’s robust energy and digital infrastructure.
Trump Family Expands Crypto Portfolio
The listing of American Bitcoin is one of several similar moves by the Trump family in the digital asset space, following the approval of trading WLFI in August and its subsequent debut on exchanges such as Binance.
The WLFI token experienced typical market reactions, spiking initially toward a new record of $0.47 before stabilizing close to its listing price between $0.20 and $0.22 for the last few days.
According to CoinGecko data, World Liberty Financial has quickly climbed to become the 35th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, reaching a valuation of nearly $6 billion in record time.
Current valuations suggest that their holdings in World Liberty Financial tokens could be worth around $5 billion, positioning them as one of the family’s most valuable assets.
The Trump family’s financial interests in the cryptocurrency realm have garnered considerable attention, encompassing a range of projects from World Liberty tokens to a memecoin associated with President Trump himself launched in January.
Eric Trump recently remarked that crypto has been “probably the most rewarding venture of my entire life,” reflecting his enthusiasm for the digital currency landscape.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $112,159, marking a modest 1% increase within the last 24 hours. Compared to the cryptocurrency’s record price of $124,100, the current price is 9% lower.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
