Trump Family-Backed American Bitcoin Targets Nasdaq Listing In September

American Bitcoin, a crypto mining firm backed by US President Donald Trump’s two sons, could list on the Nasdaq as soon as September after the company secured backing from crypto and traditional investors in an all-stock merger.

According to a Reuters report, the mining company’s unlisted merger with Gryphon Digital Mining is set to be finalized soon, provided shareholders vote to approve the arrangement.  

The goal of the merger is to start trading in early September, said Asher Genoot, the CEO of American Bitcoin’s largest shareholder, Hut 8.

American Bitcoin Considering Companies Outside Of The US

If the merger is finalized, Eric Trump, his brother Donald Trump Jr, and Hut 8 will collectively hold a 98% stake in the new entity. This new company will retain the name American Bitcoin and trade under the ticker “ABTC.” 

“Instead of going public directly via IPO, we thought that there was a lot more advantages to financing if we had an existing company that already had access to different financing too,” Genoot said during the Crypto Asia conference in Hong Kong.

American Bitcoin could then also expand to outside the US, Genoot said. 

He added that the company is considering buying up stakes in countries that are not based in the US to give investors who were prevented from buying Nasdaq-listed stocks access to publicly-listed Bitcoin companies.

Right now, however, Genoot says American Bitcoin has not committed to anything, adding that those plans are still in the “very early” stages.  

Eric Trump To Travel To Tokyo For Metaplanet

The Trump family is involved in several crypto ventures, which has drawn a fair amount of criticism from US lawmakers who believe it presents a conflict of interest given the President’s ability to influence policy for possible financial gain.

Those ventures include the meme coins Official Trump (TRUMP) and Melania (MELANIA), a decentralized platform called World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and a stake in Polymarket, which one of the Trump’s venture capital arms recently bought.

In March, Eric Trump also joined Metaplanet as an advisor, where he will help the company continue its aggressive accumulation of Bitcoin (BTC). 

Metaplanet is currently ranked as the seventh-largest Bitcoin treasury firm globally and is the largest corporate BTC holder in Asia with 18,991 coins on its balance sheet, according to data from Bitcoin Treasuries.

Eric Trump is attending the Crypto Asia Conference as well, and will be travelling to Tokyo this weekend for Metaplanet, Genoot said.

Eric Trump says his family turned to crypto after the banking system was “weaponized against them” under the Joe Biden Administration.

Hut 8 Pivots From Mining To Energy And Data Centers

Hut 8 merged with American Data Centers, a company backed by the Trumps, earlier this year to launch American Bitcoin. 

Hut 8 is American Bitcoin’s largest shareholder, holding 80% of its shares, while the Trump-affiliated entity owns the remaining 20%.

The deal effectively transferred the majority of Hut 8’s mining assets to the new entity, including its ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) miners in exchange for operational control and the majority ownership.

Genoot said during the interview that Hut 8 has shifted its focus from mainly crypto mining to energy infrastructure and data centers after American Bitcoin was created. 

Hut 8 has also become the exclusive infrastructure and operations partner for American Bitcoin, providing the new entity with facility support, energy, and back-office services such as accounting, HR, legal and IT.

Benchmark Retains “Buy” Rating For Hut 8

In related news, investment bank Benchmark has reiterated its “buy” rating for Hut 8’s stock, and has also raised its price target for the company’s shares from $33 to $36 due to the firm’s expansion plans.

Hut 8 share price (Source: Google Finance)

That’s after Hut 8 revealed plans to develop 1.53 gigawatts of new capacity across four US sites. These new sites will be used to provide energy for various computing purposes, excluding Bitcoin mining. 

Benchmark’s Senior Equity Research Analyst, Mark Palmer, said in a note that Hut 8’s expansion plans would “establish it as one of the largest owners of power that could be used for AI/high-power computing workloads, Bitcoin mining, or other purposes.”