American Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency mining company backed by US President Donald Trump’s sons, made its debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Wednesday with a volatile first day of trading that ultimately ended with a 16% gain.
The company, co-founded by Eric and Donald Trump Jr., went public through a merger with existing Bitcoin mining company Gryphon Digital Mining. This merger provided a faster pathway to US markets than a traditional IPO process.
Shares of American Bitcoin (ABTC) experienced extreme price swings throughout the trading session. The stock shot up 91% from Gryphon’s Tuesday closing price of $6.90 to reach an intraday high of $13.20.
The volatility was so intense that Nasdaq halted trading of ABTC shares five times during the day. Despite the rollercoaster ride, the stock closed at just over $8, representing a 16.52% gain from the previous day’s close.
After-hours trading saw the stock climb an additional 5% to $8.45. The choppy debut reflects the growing but still unstable interest in cryptocurrency-related stocks on Wall Street.
The launch of American Bitcoin marks the Trump family’s latest venture into the cryptocurrency space. It follows just days after their other crypto project, World Liberty Financial, had its tokens listed on crypto exchanges for the first time on Monday.
World Liberty Financial’s token (WLFI) has not performed as well, dropping 30% from its debut price. The token has continued to decline, falling over 7% in the 24 hours after launch to just over 21 cents, according to CoinGecko data.
The Trump family’s increasing involvement in cryptocurrency comes as the US has risen to second place on Chainalysis’ crypto adoption index. The analytics firm cited President Trump’s crypto-friendly policies as a major driver of adoption in the country.
Eric Trump, who serves as American Bitcoin’s co-founder and strategy chief, dismissed concerns that the venture could be seen as profiting from his father’s policies.
“I got into this business because I was illegitimately debanked from every financial platform in the country,” he claimed in a Bloomberg interview. “My father has nothing to do with this business.”
Eric Trump outlined that the company plans to both mine and purchase Bitcoin, switching between strategies based on market conditions. “There’s only a certain amount of Bitcoin that can be mined every day, and we’re going to harness that to the absolute fullest,” he told Bloomberg.
He added that the company would also purchase Bitcoin directly when advantageous. “We’re going to be implementing both strategies; whichever is best for shareholder value is obviously what we’re going to prioritize.”
American Bitcoin currently owns 2,443 BTC, making it the 25th-largest holder among public companies. With Bitcoin trading at around $111,850 at the time of reporting, the company’s holdings are worth approximately $273 million.
Bloomberg estimates that Eric Trump’s roughly 7.5% stake in American Bitcoin is worth about $548 million. When asked about his stake, he commented, “We’re incredibly fortunate in life with or without this endeavor.”
The company’s public launch comes amid a broader trend of companies entering the crypto sector by going public or shifting focus to buying cryptocurrency. This trend has accelerated as institutional interest in digital assets continues to grow.
American Bitcoin’s trading debut reflects Wall Street’s increasing appetite for digital asset firms and mining companies as the cryptocurrency industry matures and courts more institutional investment.
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