This article is reprinted with permission from Bitpush, author: BitpushNews, copyright belongs to the original author.
Today, American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC) officially listed on Nasdaq. This company, co-founded by Eric Trump and closely related to the Trump family, staged a thrilling "capital roller coaster" on its first day of trading.
Market data shows that ABTC surged over 110% at its peak during the opening, but ultimately closed up about 17%.
On that day, the stock was halted five times by Nasdaq within the first hour of trading due to extreme volatility, reaching highs of $14 before falling back to around $9.50, retracing more than half of its gains.
This trend typically exemplifies the "Pump and Dump" model: first leveraging political exposure and enthusiasm in the capital market to inflate stock prices, then cashing out profits, leaving ordinary investors to take the losses.
In late March this year, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. reached a deal with Hut 8, one of the largest publicly listed Bitcoin mining companies in the U.S., to establish a new entity called "American Bitcoin."
According to the agreement, Hut 8 donated all 61,000 of its mining machines to American Bitcoin. In return, Hut 8 received 80% of the shares in American Bitcoin.
The most puzzling aspect of this deal is that the mining company gave up its 100% ownership of the equipment, instead collaborating with the Trump sons to obtain a smaller shareholding.
In response, Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, stated on social media: "I completely don't understand why Hut 8 would exchange 61,000 mining machines for 80% of a subsidiary it already fully owned."
In this new company, Eric Trump serves as Chief Strategy Officer, and the company claims he brings "business acumen" and a commitment to a "decentralized financial system." Donald Trump Jr. does not hold any listed executive position.
In the IPO, Gryphon Digital Mining acted as the "shell company," providing American Bitcoin with a springboard to enter the core U.S. capital market. This merger provided a direct Nasdaq listing channel for the Trump family's entity, perfectly aligning with its $210 million financing plan. Additionally, the company holds 2,443 Bitcoins as corporate treasury reserves, adding weight to its financial narrative.
Eric Trump stated on the first day: "Our Nasdaq listing marks a historic milestone for Bitcoin entering the core of the U.S. capital market, and our mission is to make America the undisputed leader of the global Bitcoin economy." Donald Trump Jr. emphasized that the company "symbolizes freedom, transparency, and core values of independence."
However, the reality is that the core of all this narrative is ultimately a cash-out tool—dressed in the skin of Bitcoin faith, but underneath lies capital arbitrage.
Just days before ABTC's listing, another crypto bet by the Trump family, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), went live for trading. Its token WLFI briefly surged to $0.46 but then plummeted about 50%, closing around $0.22.
On the day of WLFI's listing, it brought about $5 billion in paper wealth growth to the Trump family, with trading volume reaching $1 billion in the first hour and the token's market cap nearing $7 billion. According to Reuters, the project has so far brought the family about $500 million in actual profits.
The WLFI listing was not a simple issuance; through a voting mechanism, early investors agreed in July to unlock their tokens for trading, while WLFI's governance attributes are more intriguing than its economic value—officially, it has not even clarified whether it includes rights or dividend distributions.
The table below visually presents the differences in returns for investors of different identities on WLFI's first day:
It is not difficult to see:
Retail investors, as "high-position buyers," became the main losers;
Ordinary early investors made profits, but were not the biggest winners;
The privileged camp obtained overwhelming returns at extremely low costs, easily cashing out.
The core logic of this hype is:
Narrative packaging: From "American Bitcoin economic leader" to "freedom and transparency," each project is imbued with grand significance;
Identity exposure: Endorsements from Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. undoubtedly enhance project attention and buying interest;
Heat building: Social media and mainstream media collaborate to hype, triggering retail investors' FOMO (fear of missing out);
Cash-out: Amidst high heat, they complete their sales, while retail investors are left holding the bag at high positions.
The Trump family's crypto path is not accidental; it leverages its political capital to establish a cross-cycle wealth map. For instance, WLFI has not only tokens but also stablecoins like USD1 and other supporting assets, while the internal holding ratio of the project is as high as 60-75%, indicating severe interest bundling.
Moreover, with billions of dollars in collaborations with allies like Abu Dhabi and Justin Sun, this cross-political cycle and cross-asset class capital deployment is not merely arbitrage but a kind of "institutional-level ATM."
When the revelry ends, the only ones left in the arena are those ordinary investors holding the remnants, gazing at the candlestick charts—they have become the only "paying audience" of this show.
Related: Despite WLFI burning 47 million tokens, whales still lost millions due to the Trump-associated token plummeting 40%.
Original article: “ABTC's IPO Cash Grab, the Trump Family Wins Big Again”
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