Hut 8 crypto-miner announced Monday a partnership with U.S. President Donald Trump's two oldest sons, Eric and Donald Jr.--FILE PHOTO
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Hut 8 cryptocurrency is getting into business with the two sons of U.S. President Donald Trump, it was announced on March 31 – not April 1.
The North American bitcoin miner and data-processing company announced Monday it will partner with an investors group that includes Eric Trump and Donald Jr., to fund and help guide its announced expansion goals in a subsidiary known as American Bitcoin.
“It is a great honour to partner with Hut 8, a recognized leader in the Bitcoin space, as we launch American Bitcoin,” said Eric Trump, noted as “co-founder” of American Bitcoin in a statement from Hut 8. “By combining Hut 8’s proven operational excellence in datacenters with our shared passion for Bitcoin and decentralized finance, we are poised to strengthen our foundation and drive significant future growth.”
Hut 8, which began operations in Canada with a flagship facility in Medicine Hat in 2019, is now based in Miami after it combined with large American firm U.S. Bitcoin several years ago.
This year it announced major plans to enter the burgeoning data-centre development market, and now it says it will take over a majority interest in a firm known as American Datacenters, in which the Trumps are partners.
Hut 8 will own an 80 per cent majority in the newly formed subsidiary, providing its computing hardware along with facilities and power management through the long-term agreement.
Hut 8 earns fees for handling cryptocurrency transactions, a practice known as mining, as well as rental revenue from other miners who lease space and capacity to operate in its datacentres.
The arrangement “(carves) out our mining business into a standalone entity,” said Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8.
“The transaction creates two focused yet complementary businesses, each purpose-built for its respective mandate. It evolves Hut 8 toward more predictable, financeable, lower-cost-of-capital segments and establishes American Bitcoin as a pure-play mining platform built for exahash growth, Bitcoin production and operating leverage.”
Hash is an industry term for processing power.
The new company’s results will initially be consolidated with Hut 8’s statements. Eric Trump is listed as a member of the leadership team as a “chief strategy officer.”
“From the start, we’ve backed our conviction in Bitcoin – personally and through our businesses,” said Donald Trump Jr. “But simply buying Bitcoin is only half the story. Mining it on favorable economics opens an even bigger opportunity. We’re excited to bring investors into that equation through a platform engineered to execute on this thesis and deliver real, tangible participation in Bitcoin’s growth.”
A conference call is scheduled Tuesday to discuss the move with market analysts.
