Trump-backed bitcoin mining company begins trading on Nasdaq stock market

A bitcoin treasury and mining company linked to the Trump family began trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq stock market.

American Bitcoin's listing follows a completed merger with Gryphon Digital Mining. The company is backed by President Donald Trump's sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump.

Our Nasdaq debut marks a historic milestone in bringing bitcoin into the core of US capital markets, Eric Trump said in a statement. He is a co-founder and chief strategy officer of American Bitcoin.

Public companies accumulating bitcoin as a corporate treasury has become a popular trend in crypto as the world's most popular digital asset is priced near an all-time high. The parent company of Trump's Truth Social has also moved to accumulate bitcoin.

American Bitcoin said it plans to use self-mining operations and opportunistic bitcoin purchases to stand out in a growing field.

Wednesday's listing gives investors yet another chance to put money in a Trump-linked crypto project. The Trump family has made a heavy pivot from real estate into crypto in the last year with projects ranging from a US dollar-backed stablecoin to the president hawking his own meme coin.

On Monday, another Trump-family backed crypto project, World Liberty Financial, launched public trading of its tokens. The popularity of such projects has put the value of the Trump family's crypto holdings at several billion dollars, at least on paper.

Democrats have blasted the president for trying to monetize his popularity with crypto investors while also pushing for pro-crypto legislation and regulations. Trump has denied any improper conflicts of interest.