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Eric Trump urged investors to buy bitcoin during a keynote address at a major cryptocurrency conference in Hong Kong on Friday, predicting the digital currency could reach $1 million per coin while his family's crypto businesses seek to expand in Asia.
Speaking to thousands of attendees at the Bitcoin Asia conference, the president's second son delivered an enthusiastic endorsement of cryptocurrency investment as bitcoin traded above $110,000 in real time on stage monitors.
"Buy right now, shut your eyes, hold it for the next five years and you're going to do terrifically well," Trump told the packed auditorium at Hong Kong's convention center overlooking Victoria Harbor.
Trump explained his family's embrace of cryptocurrency as rooted in their shared experience of being marginalized by traditional financial institutions.
"They were canceling the hell out of us, and they were going after you," he said, referring to bitcoin enthusiasts. "The enemy of your enemy is your friend, and that's how the Trump family came to this community."
The appearance underscored the deepening ties between the Trump family's business interests and the cryptocurrency industry since President Trump's election victory, during which crypto investors contributed millions to support his campaign.
The president, once a cryptocurrency skeptic, has become one of the industry's most prominent supporters. Last month, he signed the Genius Act into law, creating a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins and conferring federal legitimacy on cryptocurrency.
Trump appeared alongside David Bailey, an influential bitcoin industry figure who helped mobilize crypto investors for the president's re-election campaign. Both men serve on the strategic advisory board of Japanese company Metaplanet, one of the world's largest corporate holders of bitcoin and a conference sponsor.
American Bitcoin, the mining company backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., is reportedly seeking acquisitions in Asia. "We're about to go public on the NASDAQ very soon," Trump announced during his presentation.
The conference also featured Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. Binance has been under U.S. government oversight since 2023 after admitting to violating federal money-laundering laws, and has cultivated ties with World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's crypto firm.
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Zhao praised Hong Kong's regulatory approach to cryptocurrency. Earlier this month, new legislation took effect in Hong Kong governing stablecoin use, potentially paving the way for digital currencies tied to the Hong Kong dollar and offshore Chinese renminbi.
When asked about potential discussions between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping regarding bitcoin, Eric Trump expressed enthusiasm for such talks while acknowledging competing priorities.
"I would certainly love them to talk about Bitcoin," he said. "But they probably have larger things to talk about."
Trump acknowledged China's significant role in the cryptocurrency sector, noting that most bitcoin mining occurred in China until authorities banned the practice in 2021. The Chinese government continues to explore digital currency technologies through blockchain studies and limited experiments with a digital renminbi.
"The United States and China were both leading the way on crypto," Trump said during the conference.
The regulatory changes championed by the Trump administration have contributed to bitcoin's surge in value, with the cryptocurrency hitting a peak above $124,500 in mid-August before retreating to current levels.
Trump is scheduled to attend Metaplanet's shareholder meeting on Sept. 1, according to people familiar with the matter.
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