American Bitcoin Closes First Nasdaq Session With 16% Gain
Trump-backed mining firm weathers volatility in market debut
American Bitcoin, the Trump family-linked mining company, ended its volatile first day of trading on the Nasdaq up more than 16% on Wednesday, securing millions in fresh value for the US president’s sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr.
The company, which went public through a merger with Gryphon Digital Mining, saw dramatic price swings throughout the day. Shares surged as high as $13.20, nearly doubling Gryphon’s prior closing price, before dropping to $6.72 in afternoon trade. Trading was halted five times due to volatility, but the stock closed at just over $8 and rose further in after-hours trading.
The debut underscores both the Trump family’s growing presence in the crypto sector and the broader wave of companies going public or pivoting their focus to Bitcoin.
Eric Trump hails launch as “perfect timing”
Speaking to Bloomberg, American Bitcoin co-founder and strategy chief Eric Trump called the listing “an unbelievable day” that capped years of work.
He said he launched the venture after personally holding Bitcoin for years and witnessing its rising global adoption. “The floodgates are just starting to open, so it’s kind of a perfect time,” he remarked.
Eric Trump dismissed criticism that the family is benefiting from President Trump’s crypto-friendly policies, calling such claims “totally illegitimate.” He said his personal experience with being debanked drove him to the industry.
Meanwhile, Chainalysis’ latest crypto adoption index ranked the US second globally, citing policy support under Trump as a key driver.
Mining and buying strategy
The firm will pursue a dual approach of mining Bitcoin and purchasing it directly, Eric Trump confirmed.
“There’s only so much Bitcoin mined each day, and we’re going to maximize that. But we can also buy and build treasury reserves,” he said, stressing flexibility to protect shareholder value.
American Bitcoin currently holds 2,443 BTC, worth about $273 million at current prices, making it the 25th-largest publicly held Bitcoin treasury.
Second Trump-linked crypto venture this week
American Bitcoin’s debut follows the listing of World Liberty Financial’s token (WLFI), another Trump family-linked project, earlier this week.
Around a quarter of WLFI’s 100 billion supply was unlocked for trading, but the token has slid 30% since launch, with an additional 7% drop in the last 24 hours.
President Trump and his sons are all tied to the project, with a related company owning nearly a quarter of the WLFI supply, worth about $4.8 billion.
Bloomberg estimates Eric Trump’s 7.5% stake in American Bitcoin alone at roughly $548 million. Asked about his windfall, he said, “We’re incredibly fortunate in life with or without this endeavor.”
