Eric Trump, once known primarily as a real estate executive and the son of former President Donald Trump, has undergone a striking transformation over the past four years. Once a self-described "bricks-and-mortar guy," Eric Trump now spends more than half of his time championing the world of cryptocurrency. His journey from real estate to crypto evangelism began in early 2021, after a series of unexpected and, in his view, politically motivated decisions by the banking sector left the Trump family scrambling for alternatives.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the shift began not long after the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. In the wake of the political turmoil, several banks severed ties with the Trump family's businesses, closing hundreds of accounts without citing explicit reasons. "At that time, I realized how fragile the financial system was and how easily it could be weaponized against you," Eric Trump reflected. He added that he believed the closures were politically motivated, a sentiment echoed by many conservatives and crypto advocates who have since rallied around the issue of so-called "debanking." Banks, for their part, have denied closing accounts for political reasons, but have cited regulatory pressures and reputational risks as factors in such decisions.
The Trump Organization, caught off guard, was forced to scatter millions of dollars across regional banks before eventually settling with a new, unnamed institution. The experience left a lasting impression on Eric Trump, fueling his interest in cryptocurrency—a financial system that, as he and other proponents argue, operates outside the reach of traditional banks. "This whole system was weaponized against them, no different than it had been weaponized against us for different reasons," Eric Trump said, recalling conversations with crypto insiders who felt similarly targeted by regulatory pressure.
As reported by Cryptofront News and Business Standard, Eric Trump’s newfound enthusiasm quickly evolved into action. He became the driving force behind the Trump family’s rapid entry into the cryptocurrency business, spearheading ventures in bitcoin mining, acquisition, and the launch of various crypto tokens. The family's flagship firm, World Liberty Financial, was launched in September 2024 and soon introduced both the WLFI token and a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. World Liberty Financial claimed to have sold $550 million worth of WLFI tokens, with notable investors including Chinese-born crypto billionaire Justin Sun. In June 2025, the company received a $100 million investment from the UAE-based Aqua 1 Foundation, a relative newcomer to the industry.
The Trump family's crypto ambitions did not stop there. Publicly traded crypto-payments firm ALT5 Sigma made headlines by selling $1.5 billion in shares to acquire WLFI tokens and subsequently appointed Eric Trump as a director on its board. Earlier this year, Eric was seen ringing the Nasdaq opening bell in celebration of the ALT5 and World Liberty Financial deal—a public signal of the family's deepening commitment to the digital asset space.
Eric Trump also co-founded American Bitcoin, a mining company that recently merged with American Data Center. According to a recent filing, he holds a 9.3% stake in American Bitcoin and serves as its chief strategy officer. His bullish outlook on Bitcoin is well-known; at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium (SALT conference) in Jackson Hole, he predicted, "Bitcoin will eventually be worth over $1 million." This aligns him with other prominent industry leaders, such as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who have made similar forecasts about Bitcoin’s future value.
Perhaps the most controversial of the Trump family’s crypto ventures is the $TRUMP memecoin. Launched just three days before President Trump took office, the token soared to a market capitalization of nearly $15 billion before settling around $1.7 billion. While memecoins are often met with skepticism, Eric Trump sees them as a powerful gateway for newcomers to the crypto world. "If somebody wants to go in and they want to buy $TRUMP, congratulations, now you have access to Bitcoin, you have access to Ethereum, you have access to USD1, you have access to the United States dollar," he said. "You just took the first step in actually creating some financial freedom that I think so many people around the world want."
Eric Trump’s vision for crypto extends beyond coins and tokens. He mused about the potential for tokenizing real-world assets, such as refinancing Trump Tower by offering digital shares to investors worldwide. "Why is it that if I wanted to refinance Trump Tower, I couldn’t tokenize this asset and put it on the street for billions of people around the world to otherwise invest in it? They love New York. They love Fifth Avenue. They love Trump," he said.
The Trump family’s rapid expansion into cryptocurrency has not gone unnoticed—or unchallenged. Ethics lawyers and critics, particularly from outside the government, have raised concerns about conflicts of interest. Norm Eisen, the White House ethics czar during the Obama administration, argued, "What Donald Trump is doing with crypto is the essence of corruption, because you have the man who is ultimately in charge of regulating the industry, who has vast financial interests in multiple dimensions of that industry, he can’t help but make decisions that impact his own pockets." The White House, however, has pushed back. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that "media’s continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible" and insisted that "neither the president nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest."
Meanwhile, President Trump himself has made the issue of debanking a central point of his administration. In August 2025, he issued an executive order directing regulators to investigate whether banks discriminate on political or religious grounds, threatening penalties for those found guilty. The Trump Organization has also taken legal action, suing Capital One for allegedly closing accounts for political reasons—a claim the bank has denied.
Eric Trump’s journey has been public and high-profile. He’s spoken at major bitcoin conferences in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and has become a fixture at industry events. Anthony Scaramucci, a longtime Trump adviser and early crypto investor, remarked, "He’s read the bitcoin white paper. He’s done a tremendous amount of homework." Eric’s office at Trump Tower may still be adorned with real estate memorabilia and political tributes, but his focus is now firmly split between the tangible world of property and the abstract, fast-moving world of digital assets.
In a world where traditional financial systems can be upended overnight, Eric Trump’s pivot to cryptocurrency serves as both a personal and political statement. Whether his predictions for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market will come true remains to be seen, but for now, he stands as one of the most vocal—and controversial—crypto advocates in America’s business and political landscape.
