Bitcoin a 'Huge Part of Everything We Do Now': Donald Trump Jr.

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. bashed the traditional finance system and championed the U.S.' pro-crypto pivot and their own digital asset endeavors on Wednesday at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas—underscoring the Trumps' growing enmeshment with the cryptocurrency community, despite critics' concerns over conflicts of interest posed by the First Family's embrace of the industry. 

The two eldest sons of U.S. President Donald Trump touted the U.S.' foray into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies during a roughly 30-minute talk in which they urged the audience to buy Bitcoin and touted the virtues of their decentralized finance platform World Liberty Fi. Their comments marked a striking contrast to President Trump's stump speech at last year's Bitcoin conference.

"I would love to see some of the big banks go extinct, because honestly, they deserve it," Eric Trump said on the Nakamoto Stage on Wednesday, "You go pull out 500 bucks and you're on some terrorist watch list somewhere.

He added, "and now, all of a sudden, you have crypto.. it makes [the financial system] faster, it makes it safer, it makes it more transparent."

The First Sons’ remarks on Bitcoin's growing adoption stateside followed U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance's appearance on Wednesday at BTC 2025, just a few hours earlier.  The First Family and senior Trump administration official's appearances at the Bitcoin conference come as American regulators and lawmakers increasingly embrace digital assets under President Trump.  

In the first five months of the second Trump administration, the commander-in-chief passed several pro-Bitcoin executive orders, calling for the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the U.S. Treasury, the banning of CBDCs, and the protection of Bitcoin miners’ rights. 

More broadly, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ratcheted back regulations on digital asset firms and holders under President Trump, dropping its enforcement actions against several major crypto exchanges, including Kraken and Coinbase. 

Lawmakers have similarly ramped up their efforts to enshrine operational guardrails for the cryptocurrency industry into law, vowing to advance broader market-structure legislation later this year, in addition to making progress on a stablecoin bill that is expected to pass as soon as this summer.

The regulatory and legislative overhaul, which is still underway, has refashioned the U.S. into a major crypto hub, marking an about-face from the country's previously crypto-skeptical policies under President Joe Biden. 

As a result, options exchange Deribit and other firms are planning to establish roots in the U.S., while several non-crypto companies are actively exploring ways to incorporate crypto into their corporate strategies, whether by adopting tokens such as Solana, Bitcoin or Ethereum for their treasuries or by integrating Bitcoin payments into their business like Steak ‘n Shake. 

Eric Trump gave a nod to institutions and retail traders' growing adoption of Bitcoin— "everybody wants Bitcoin. Everybody is buying Bitcoin."

Eric and Donald Jr.—and other members of the Trump dynasty— have become increasingly enmeshed with the crypto industry over the past few months. 

The First Family has ties to a series of Trump-themed NFTs and the Official Trump and Melania meme coins. Trump also appeared at a private dinner for the top 220 $Trump holders earlier this month, attracting widespread criticism from American press, politicians and the public. 

The president's family also backs a decentralized finance platform World Liberty Fi that debuted late last year, with Trump Sr. and his two eldest sons serving as members of the project's support team, according to WLFi's Gold Paper. 

Eric, who serves as vice president of the Trump Family Organization, also leads Trump Media & Technology. The firm, which owns Truth Social, has embarked on two different crypto projects—releasing a few Bitcoin and other crypto-backed ETFs and raising $2.5 billion to invest into Bitcoin.

He also co-founded a digital asset mining firm called American Bitcoin alongside his brother, Donald Trump Jr., that plans to go public later this year. 

Critics have decried the president and his family's engagement with the cryptocurrency agency, arguing that President Trump is using the office of the presidency to personally enrich himself and his family members.  

A report from non-partisan organization State Democracy Defenders Action estimates that the Trump's family's crypto end has increased its wealth by $2.9 billion, with his crypto holdings accounting for nearly 40% of his net worth.

"We're actually executing on all of the things and we're very long crypto," Don Jr. said, speaking of his family's digital assets-focused businesses. "I mean, it's a huge part of everything that we do now."

Edited by James Rubin