Technology

The Trump family crypto empire looks to Asia: Eric Trump talks Bitcoin in Hong Kong

Published

2 months ago

August 29, 2025

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Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr during the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, on Wednesday, May 28, 2025.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Eric Trump said Friday he is certain bitcoin will eventually hit a $1 million valuation as he spoke at a Hong Kong conference, marking the first of a series of Asian crypto events that will feature U.S. President Donald Trump’s sons.

Speaking at Hong Kong’s Bitcoin Asia 2025 conference, Eric Trump discussed his strong involvement in the crypto space.

“I really believe in the next several years, Bitcoin hits a million dollars. There’s no question,” he said, adding that 90% of his time is now spent with the crypto community.

During his panel, the American businessman and former reality TV presenter also showered praise on Simon Gerovich, president and CEO of Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet. Eric joined the Tokyo-listed company’s board of advisors earlier this year.

Bitcoin’s price has risen about 86% in the last 12 months amid buoyant investor sentiment surrounding President’s Trump’s election victory and a more positive U.S. regulatory environment on crypto. However, it’s worth noting that cryptocurrencies generally can be highly volatile and the space has been shrouded in the past by illicit activity and corporate scandals. In 2022, bitcoin and other digital currencies slumped sharply after a slew of major crypto companies went bankrupt.

Asia push

Eric Trump, along with his brother Donald Trump Jr, have become major players in the Trump family’s growing crypto empire. The two are co-founders of the bitcoin-mining venture American Bitcoin and also help manage the Trump family-backed project World Liberty Financial.

Now the brothers are broadening their push into digital assets to Asia. Soon after his Hong Kong visit, Eric Trump is reportedly headed to Japan to attend a shareholder meeting of Metaplanet, according to a recent report from Bloomberg News.

Later in September, both Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are expected to speak at a South Korean crypto conference, and the pair is slated to appear as key speakers at Singapore’s Token 2049, one of the world’s largest crypto events.

Once a skeptic of cryptocurrencies, President Trump has also embraced the crypto industry, branding himself as the first “crypto president.”

“The Bitcoin community embraced my father unlike anything I had ever seen before,” Eric Trump said Friday adding: “And I hope that’s paid off in spades.”

The Trump administration has launched a number of executive orders and backed policies welcomed by the digital asset industry and has filled his cabinet with crypto advocates like David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar.

Trump has also been involved in crypto business ventures, including World Liberty Financial and his $TRUMP meme coin, leading to accusations of corruption and self-dealing from opposition lawmakers, as well as calls for ethics investigations.

Given the shared interests between the American president and his son’s crypto activities, market watchers will be monitoring how the two brothers are received by government officials during their Asia tour.

Eric Trump on taking American Bitcoin public and the family’s growing crypto empire

The visits come against the backdrop of President Trump’s ongoing global trade war, which has made Asia a major target.

A Hong Kong official and a lawmaker withdrew from a Bitcoin Asia conference in the city following advice not to engage with Eric Trump, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

An archived version of the event webpage confirmed that Eric Yip, executive director at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and lawmaker Johnny Ng had previously been on the list of speakers for the event, before being removed.

The SFC told CNBC that Yip was unable to attend the event because of a business trip, while the South China Morning Post reported that Ng said he withdrew for family reasons.

The Hong Kong legislative council did not respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

– CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.

Technology

CNBC Daily Open: All about Trump-Xi, Fed cuts and Big Tech earnings

Published

1 hour ago

October 30, 2025

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CNBC Daily Open: All about Trump-Xi, Fed cuts and Big Tech earnings

The Google corporate office at The Hub building in Warsaw, Poland on Sept. 16th, 2025.

Beata Zawrze | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The news cycle barely stopped to breathe today.

First, Trump meets Xi.

U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, during which he struck a 1-year rare earths agreement with China and lowered fentanyl-related tariffs on Beijing to 10% from 20%, effective immediately.

China, in return, will resume buying soybeans and other agricultural products from America, Trump added.

Second, interest rates.

The U.S. Federal Reserve lowered rates by 25 basis points, as expected by traders. But Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that another cut in December, which the market had been pricing in with more than 90% certainty, “is not a foregone conclusion.”

Finally, Big Tech earnings.

While Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft reported earnings that beat analyst expectations, their capex stole the show. All three companies estimated they will outspend earlier projections, and capex growth in 2026 will likely outpace the rate this year.

The crux is that spending on artificial intelligence isn’t going to slow down, at least for the next year, thanks to increasing demand for AI services. Fears of the dotcom bubble repeating can be deferred for now — even Powell suggested so.

That’s a wrap for today. Breathe while you can — Apple and Amazon are up next.

What you need to know today

Trump and Xi meet in South Korea. In their first meeting in six years, Trump halved fentanyl-related tariffs on China to 10% from 20% and said he had struck a 1-year agreement with Beijing on rare earths and critical minerals, while China will resume U.S. soybean purchases.

Fed cuts rates by 25 basis points. That brings the U.S.’ benchmark interest rate to a range of 3.75%-4%. Two out of 10 governors dissented with the move: Trump-appointee Stephan Miran wanted a half-point cut while Jeffrey Schmid voted for no cuts.

Tech titans report earnings. Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft reported earnings Wednesday after the bell. All beat Wall Street expectations on revenue and earnings per share. AI continues to be a driving force for sales.

U.S. markets traded mixed Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite was the only major index that rose. Asia-Pacific stocks mostly fell Thursday. Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong markets fell as investors assessed the Trump-Xi meeting. Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up as the Bank of Japan held rates steady.

[PRO] An ‘explosive’ payoff in one AI application. Cathie Wood, founder and chief executive of ARK Invest, told CNBC that her firm is focusing on pure plays in the innovation space, which she thinks can create “explosive growth opportunities.”

And finally…

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump

Sergey Bobylev | Kent Nishimura | Reuters

Trump’s rare earth deals target China’s dominance — here’s why change won’t come soon

Over 10 days, Trump cemented deals with Australia, Malaysia, Cambodia and most recently, Japan, to bolster the supply of rare earths and other critical minerals that are crucial for the making of batteries, automobiles, defense systems and computing chips.

While Trump’s deals will bring much-needed financial support to the industry and may eventually challenge Beijing’s stranglehold over rare earths, experts said the efforts will be costly and take years to bear fruit.

— Anniek Bao

Technology

CNBC Daily Open: Capex is the number to look at amid Big Tech earnings

Published

8 hours ago

October 30, 2025

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CNBC Daily Open: Capex is the number to look at amid Big Tech earnings

Signage at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, US, on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.

Benjamin Fanjoy | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The news is coming in fast and thick. Strap in.

First, interest rates.

His statement threw cold water on the markets, sending most stocks lower and Treasury yields higher.

Next, Big Tech earnings.

Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft reported earnings that beat analyst expectations on the top and bottom lines. Notably, Alphabet’s quarterly revenue topped $100 billion for the first time.

And finally capital expenditure.

Capex is really the big story here. Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft are saying they are going to spend much more money.

Alphabet not only raised its capex estimate for fiscal year 2025 to a “a range of $91 billion to $93 billion” from its earlier forecast of $75 billion to $85 billion, but is now expecting “a significant increase” in capex for 2026, according to finance chief Anat Ashkenazi.

Meta hiked the low end of its capex guidance for the year to $70 billion from $66 billion. “Being able to make a significantly larger investment here is very likely to be a profitable thing” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the earnings call.

And Microsoft’s Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said capex in the firm’s fiscal first quarter came in at $34.9 billion — higher than the $30 billion figure estimated in July. The capex growth rate for fiscal 2026 will also surpass that in 2025, Hood added.

The crux is that spending on artificial intelligence isn’t going to slow down, at least for the next year, thanks to increasing demand for AI services. Fears of a bubble can be deferred for now.

That’s it for the day. We all can take a breather — at least until headlines emerge from U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping’s meeting later in the day.

What you need to know today

And finally…

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump

Sergey Bobylev | Kent Nishimura | Reuters

Trump-Xi meeting nears with high stakes and hopes, but few details

A high-stakes meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could yield a breakthrough in the trade relationship between the two economic superpowers.

But while both the Trump administration and Beijing are projecting optimism ahead of the sit-down, specifics about the summit remain unclear — and some experts are skeptical of the White House’s confidence on achieving a favorable outcome.

— Kevin Breuninger