‘The world is trying to hoard Bitcoin right now’ — Eric Trump

There is an ongoing race across the world for Bitcoin accumulation, according to Eric Trump, the second-eldest son of US President Donald Trump. Speaking at a crypto conference in Toronto on May 15, Trump said that from families to government funds, “everybody in the world is trying to hoard Bitcoin right now.”

The remarks came during a panel at Consensus 2025. Sharing the stage with Asher Genoot, the CEO of Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Hut 8, Trump said Bitcoin adoption has been incredible.

Trump described what he sees as “two races in Bitcoin”: the accumulation race — currently led by Michael Saylor, he says — and the mining race, which marks his own involvement in the crypto space.

President Trump's third child is the co-founder of American Bitcoin, a Hut8 subsidiary. On May 12, the companies announced American Bitcoin would merge with Gryphon Digital Mining in a stock-for-stock transaction that will result with a public listing on the Nasdaq.

Related: Bitcoin bulls aim for new all-time highs by next week as capital inflows soar

The size of Trump's family crypto ventures has grown considerably over several years from non-fungible token collections and mining to memecoins and a stablecoin. Critics say the ventures pose conflicts of interest and open the door to potential corruption.

At various points, Democrats have called for investigations into Trump’s crypto-related activities, proposed legislation aimed at limiting potential financial gains by the Trump family from memecoins, and walked out of a joint hearing on digital assets, citing concerns over the lack of discussion around the president’s involvement in the crypto space.

Senate Democrats withdrew their support for a bipartisan stablecoin bill amid ongoing scrutiny of the president’s crypto ventures, though a second voting session could come as soon as May 26.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading question