A Bitcoin-focused venture tied to the Trump family is to go public as part of a merger agreement with Gryphon Digital Mining.
American Bitcoin Corp., which is majority owned by Hut 8 Corp. and partly backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., will be acquired by Gryphon in an all stock merger transaction, Hut 8 said in a statement Monday. Shares of Gryphon jumped as much as 460% to US$2.93 ($3.82), while Hut 8 increased 17% to US$16.31.
Launched in March, American Bitcoin is focused exclusively on Bitcoin mining and strategic Bitcoin reserve development. The company was formerly known as American Data Centers Inc., an entity formed by a group of investors including the Trump sons. It also plans to hold a large amount of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, emulating Michael Saylor’s Strategy.
The newly combined company will operate under the American Bitcoin brand and is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “ABTC,” the statement said. The transaction is expected to close as early as the third quarter this year. Additional financial details weren’t disclosed.
Bitcoin miners are among the earliest supporters for Trump, who pledged to make every Bitcoin in the US during his presidential campaign. The venture with Hut 8 further expands Trump’s ties to the crypto industry. The family has launched the decentralised finance platform World Liberty Financial, a stablecoin backed by the US dollar, nonfungible tokens and memecoins featuring him and Melania Trump.
Concerns over the potential conflicts of interest between the Trump family and the sector have been brewing with Senate Democrats blocking stablecoin legislation backed by the digital-asset industry earlier this month amid furore over Trump’s extensive and growing portfolio of crypto ventures.
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Bitcoin mining has morphed into a multibillion dollar industry amid a boom in crypto in recent years with US-listed miners dominating the market after Beijing imposed a sweeping ban on such operations. The US miners have faced a political backlash largely from the Democrats over the high energy consumption involved in the process as well as negative environmental impacts on local communities.
American Bitcoin’s existing stockholders are expected to own approximately 98% of the combined company. It will be led by American Bitcoin’s board of directors and management team, including Eric Trump, who is the firm’s chief strategy officer.
“This transaction marks the next step in scaling American Bitcoin as a purpose-built vehicle for low-cost Bitcoin accumulation at scale,” said Asher Genoot, chief executive officer of Hut 8. “By taking American Bitcoin public, we expect to unlock direct access to dedicated growth capital independent of Hut 8’s balance sheet, while preserving long-term exposure to Bitcoin upside for our shareholders.”
