Inside The Trump-Backed Bitcoin Empire: How Michael Ho Plans To Build America’s Largest Digital Gold Treasury
While millions flock to Bitcoin ETFs, Michael Ho is executing what a “Wall Street hack” — and he’s doing it alongside Eric and Donald Trump Jr. The CEO of American Bitcoin (NASDAQ:ABTC) and Chief Strategy Officer at Hut8 Mining, joined forces with the Trump family to build a new kind of crypto powerhouse. Following its September 2025 Nasdaq debut under the ticker ABTC, after a high-profile merger with Gryphon Digital Mining, American Bitcoin is using public market mechanics to accumulate Bitcoin at what Michael Ho describes at a “massive discount.” Hut 8 holds a majority 80% stake in American Bitcoin, with the Trump family, including Eric and Donald Jr., alongside legacy shareholders owning the remaining 20%. Currently American Bitcoin holds 5,044 Bitcoins CRYPTO: BTC), ranking 21st among corporate holders.
“I think from just the supply dynamics, Bitcoin is very well positioned to see much higher prices.”
Michael Ho, CEO of American Bitcoin
In this interview Michael Ho explains his “accumulator” model — how the company leverages its stock premium to buy more Bitcoin, why he’s targeting a $25 trillion untapped fixed-income market, and his audacious plan to become one of the top five Bitcoin holders in the world.
Anna: Michael Ho, CEO of American Bitcoin. You’ve deeply cooperated with the Trump family. Can you tell us about your background and how you got into crypto?
Michael: I bought my first Bitcoin back in 2013, probably on an exchange that isn’t around anymore, and got into Bitcoin mining back in 2014. Bitcoin mining back then looked very different from the institutional data centers that we build today. Back in 2014, it was going around to our local electronic stores, buying graphic cards, gaming graphic cards, and putting together our first iterations of our mining rigs. I think one of our ASICs that we use today is probably equivalent to maybe 100,000 of those early day GPUs.
Anna: So what led you into crypto mining?
Michael: I’ve been a serial entrepreneur most of my life… I always loved cars, so I built a business out of currency arbitrage, import-export currency arbitrage, using vehicles or cars as the vehicle of medium transfer. And that was actually what led me to crypto mining, was my appreciation for arbitrage businesses. Understanding that Bitcoin mining really at the core is just energy arbitrage. Your biggest cost is your cost of energy. So naturally, what led me into the Bitcoin mining space was this appreciation to find the …
About The Author
