Trump Family-Backed American Bitcoin to Go Public via Merger With Gryphon Digital
Pre-market spikes follow news of strategic stock-for-stock transaction.
Updated May 13, 2025, 12:20 p.m. Published May 12, 2025, 12:27 p.m.
American Bitcoin, Hut 8’s majority-owned unit backed by the Trump family, will go public via a merger with Gryphon Digital Mining (GRYP).
Shares of Hut 8 Corp. (HUT) jumped 12% in pre-market trading, while Gryphon Digital Mining (GRYP) soared more than 200%, following the news.
American Data Center, which was owned by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, merged their firm with American Bitcoin in March. The Trump brothers own 20% of American Bitcoin, while Hut 8 holds the remaining 80%.
Eric Trump is one of the headline speakers at Consensus 2025.
The stock-for-stock transaction will result in Gryphon acquiring American Bitcoin, with the combined company adopting the American Bitcoin name and trading on Nasdaq under the ticker “ABTC.”
The merger is expected to close as early as Q3 of 2025. American Bitcoin will retain its current leadership and board, including CEO Mike Ho, and remain focused on scaling low-cost bitcoin (BTC) accumulation.
“This transaction marks the next step in scaling American Bitcoin as a purpose-built vehicle for low-cost Bitcoin accumulation at scale,” said Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8. “By taking American Bitcoin public, we expect to unlock direct access to dedicated growth capital independent of Hut 8’s balance sheet.”
After the merger, existing shareholders of American Bitcoin are expected to own roughly 98% of the new company. Hut 8 will maintain majority ownership and serve as the exclusive infrastructure and operations partner.
James Van Straten
James Van Straten is a Senior Analyst at CoinDesk, specializing in Bitcoin and its interplay with the macroeconomic environment. Previously, James worked as a Research Analyst at Saidler & Co., a Swiss hedge fund, where he developed expertise in on-chain analytics. His work focuses on monitoring flows to analyze Bitcoin’s role within the broader financial system.
In addition to his professional endeavors, James serves as an advisor to Coinsilium, a UK publicly traded company, where he provides guidance on their Bitcoin treasury strategy. He also holds investments in Bitcoin, MicroStrategy (MSTR), and Semler Scientific (SMLR).
AI Boost
“AI Boost” indicates a generative text tool, typically an AI chatbot, contributed to the article. In each and every case, the article was edited, fact-checked and published by a human. Read more about CoinDesk’s AI Policy.
Read More
James Van Straten