A Bitcoin mining start-up backed by US President Donald Trump’s two eldest sons revealed plans on Monday to go public on the New York Stock Exchange through a merger.
American Bitcoin has struck a deal to be acquired by the publicly traded Gryphon Digital Mining Inc. in a stock-for-stock merger transaction. Once the merger is completed, the combined company will operate under the name American Bitcoin, trading under the ticker symbol “ABTC,” and will be led by American Bitcoin’s management team, according to a press release.
“Our vision for American Bitcoin is to create the most investable bitcoin accumulation platform in the market,” said Eric Trump, co-founder and chief strategy officer of American Bitcoin and son of the US president.
American Bitcoin was launched earlier this year by Florida-based Hut 8 Corp. in partnership with Eric Trump. The company aims to build the world’s largest “pure play” Bitcoin mining operation, along with a strategic reserve for cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin mining involves using computing power to solve complex mathematical problems in order to validate transactions on the Bitcoin network.
“Taking American Bitcoin public is a critical step toward scaling the business at the pace and magnitude we envision,” said Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot in the release. The merger is expected to be completed by October, according to the company.
The Trump family’s ventures into the cryptocurrency space have raised questions about potential conflicts of interest. US crypto investors were major backers of Trump’s presidential campaign, contributing millions of dollars to his victory, hoping that his administration would take a more favorable stance on digital currencies, in contrast to the skepticism displayed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
Donald Trump now has significant financial connections to the crypto industry, having partnered with exchange platform World Liberty Financial and launched a “Trump” memecoin in January. In late April, it was announced that he would host the largest holders of the memecoin for a dinner, causing its price to surge.
First Lady Melania Trump also launched her own memecoin, $MELANIA. Additionally, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” and appointed a crypto advocate to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Once critical of the crypto industry, the president has taken significant steps to clear regulatory hurdles. However, progress on crypto-related legislation backed by Trump has faced challenges in Congress, with Democratic lawmakers expressing concerns about his business interests in the sector.
AFP
