American Bitcoin, linked to Eric Trump, brought significant profit to the president’s son while retail investors lost $500 million.
The mining company American Bitcoin, linked to Eric Trump, brought significant profit to the president’s son while retail investors lost approximately $500M after the public listing, Forbes concluded.
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The company debuted on Nasdaq in September 2025 with a $13.2B valuation. Since then, its shares have fallen 92%.
Eric Trump’s personal wealth grew from approximately $190M to $280M during this period, even though he did not invest his own money in building the business.
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Mining Economics in Question
The company claimed mining costs of $57,000 to $58,000 per Bitcoin (BTC). However, Forbes clarified that this figure only accounts for operating expenses. Including equipment purchases, marketing, depreciation, and other costs, the full cost reaches approximately $90,000 per coin.
Operating costs have now fallen to $47,000, but the total cost remains high with BTC▲$63,552.00 trading around $77,000.
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Business Model: Stock Arbitrage
According to the publication, approximately 70% of the cryptocurrency on American Bitcoin’s balance sheet came not from mining but from selling shares and then buying coins on the market.
Since its listing, the company has actively conducted additional offerings. In the first 27 days, it sold 11 million shares for $90M, and later tens of millions more.
From its founding through the end of March 2026, the firm spent approximately $525M buying BTC, which is now worth roughly $390M. Thus, investors have “burned” about $135M.
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Equipment Financing Risks
The company has pledged approximately 3,090 BTC to purchase ASIC miners for $330M. If the price does not recover, it risks losing these coins.
To date, American Bitcoin has mined only about 1,800 BTC.
Eric Trump’s Reaction
After the publication, Eric Trump called Forbes a “political weapon” and a “disgrace to journalism,” linking the publication to China.
He emphasized that the company holds 9,000 BTC, has 90Kminers and 28 EH/s of hashrate, making it the 16th largest public bitcoin company.
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