- Eric Trump says the Trump family’s interest in crypto began when major banks closed hundreds of their accounts after the January 6 Capitol attack, which he saw as a political “weaponization” of the financial system.
- The Trump family has since integrated crypto into their business empire, launching a memecoin, a stablecoin, and a Bitcoin mining subsidiary, with Donald Trump’s crypto-linked fortune estimated at US$2.4 billion.
Eric Trump says the Trump family’s crypto obsession began the moment their own banking privileges were revoked. In early 2021, after the Capitol riot, the Trump Organization suddenly saw “hundreds” of its accounts shut down by major banks. Eric called it a lesson in how fast the financial system can be turned against you.
“The whole thing showed me how fragile the system was and how easily it could be weaponized,” he told The Wall Street Journal. He argues the closures were political, and he now draws direct parallels to crypto firms that, under Biden-era regulators, have faced the same treatment.
Related: Crypto Carnage Crosses Continents: Billions Flee US ETFs as Australian Bitcoin Funds Tumble
“This whole system was weaponized against them, no different than it had been weaponized against us,” he said.
The Trump Family’s Pro-Crypto Posture
The family’s business empire has since folded crypto deep into its portfolio. Donald Trump launched the TRUMP memecoin just before taking office as the 47th president. World Liberty Financial followed in September 2024 with the USD1 stablecoin, listing Trump as co-founder emeritus and his sons as co-founders.
It’s worth noting that Eric and Donald Jr. also set up American Bitcoin, a Hut 8 subsidiary that raised US$220M (AU$334M) for Bitcoin and mining hardware. By August 2025, estimates pegged Donald Trump’s crypto-linked fortune at US$2.4B (AU$3.65B).
Eric Trump has been more vocal in defending the pivot. The Trump Organization sued Capital One in March over account closures. Weeks later, Eric warned that banks refusing to integrate crypto would be “extinct” within ten years.
He also now champions tokenisation of real-world assets.
Why is it that if I wanted to refinance Trump Tower, I couldn’t tokenize this asset and put it on the street for billions of people around the world to otherwise invest in it?
Eric TrumpCritics accuse the family of exploiting crypto to enrich themselves while leveraging political clout. Eric dismisses that and leaves the door open for a further political run: he or another Trump may enter the 2028 race.
Related: Institutional ETH Treasuries Top $17.6B as 69 Entities Amass 4.1M Ether
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