Hut 8 partners with Trump-backed firm to launch American Bitcoin mining company

Publicly traded Hut 8 announced a partnership with American Data Centers, whose investors include Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., to launch a new bitcoin mining company, American Bitcoin. The deal expands the Trump family’s corporate exposure to the cryptocurrency sector.

Under the cashless merger, Hut 8 will own 80% of American Bitcoin and manage operations through a shared services agreement. The Trump-backed firm will hold a 20% stake, according to a Monday press release.

Hut 8 will also deploy more than 60,000 ASIC machines to the new standalone bitcoin mining business. Shares of the Florida-based company rose more than 6% in pre-market trading following the announcement. However, Hut 8’s stock remains down 46% year to date, as bitcoin miners navigate revenue pressures following April’s bitcoin halving, a quadrennial event that cuts mining rewards by 50%.

American Bitcoin’s leadership team includes Mike Ho as executive chairman, Matt Prusak as CEO and Eric Trump as chief strategy officer. Ho will also serve on the board alongside Justin Mateen, Michael Broukhim and Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot.

“By carving out our mining business into a standalone entity, which will raise its own capital, we align each segment of the business with its respective cost of capital,” Genoot said.

The partnership marks another move by the Trump family to expand its presence in digital assets. “From the start, we’ve backed our conviction in Bitcoin — personally and through our businesses,” said Donald Trump Jr. “Simply buying Bitcoin is only half the story. Mining it on favorable economics opens an even bigger opportunity.”

The Trumps have also backed decentralized finance protocol World Liberty Financial, which plans to launch a stablecoin as the president and U.S. regulators push for clearer crypto regulations. Additionally, the family was affiliated with two official Trump memecoins — TRUMP and MELANIA — both of which have fallen more than 85% from their peaks after launching in January, according to The Block’s price data.