Original Title: How Eric Trump Became an Ally of One of China's Biggest Crypto Companies

Original Author: Ryan Weeks, Bloomberg

Original Translation: Luffy, Foresight News

Once regarded by the U.S. as a national security threat and embroiled in controversies over mining security and remote control, Bitmain, the absolute leader of the global Bitcoin mining industry, is a mysterious Chinese company. This company, after facing a White House ban and a Department of Homeland Security investigation, unexpectedly formed a key business alliance with Eric Trump, the son of Trump.

On one side is the Chinese mining giant questioned for endangering the security of the power grid and military bases, and on the other side is a Bitcoin company owned by the U.S. president's family. The two sides have established a super mining farm in Texas, kicking off a significant collaboration. This article reconstructs this alliance intertwined with politics and cryptocurrency, revealing how Bitmain managed to turn the tide from the U.S. "blacklist" and become one of the most crucial business partners of the Trump family.

Below is the full translation of the article:

Mining Empire: The Mysterious and Monopolistic Bitmain

From dedicated data centers in rural Texas to repurposed lumber mills in Borneo, rows of shoebox-shaped machines stand everywhere, emitting deafening roaring noises, sometimes even drawing complaints from neighbors. Each machine contains hundreds of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), produced at a high cost by advanced factories in Taiwan. These chips are soldered onto three enclosed hashing boards, performing brute-force calculations, with all instructions issued by a control board. Depending on the specific model, the machines will use built-in fans or liquid cooling systems to prevent component overheating, consuming enormous electricity wherever they are installed.

These devices have only one purpose: to crack the underlying algorithm SHA-256 of Bitcoin. SHA-256 is a so-called one-way function, meaning the only way to solve the mathematical problem it creates is through trial and error. Bitcoin miners make a living from this, and once the calculation is correct, they have the right to validate others' transactions and receive Bitcoin rewards.

Therefore, their profit directly depends on how many times per second these devices, called "Antminers," can attempt calculations: currently, it is in the tens of trillions per second. A top-of-the-line Antminer sells for up to $17,400. Large mining enterprises own as many as 500,000 machines, with upfront investments reaching billions of dollars, but compared to the potential return, this capital expenditure is negligible, at least when cryptocurrency prices are high. Some users liken it to owning a printer that prints lottery tickets, albeit with a much higher probability of winning.

The Antminer is the flagship product of Bitmain Technologies Ltd. Not only has the company dominated the Bitcoin mining industry, for much of its history, it has essentially been the industry itself, with a market share of over 80%.

Companies that achieve such absolute dominance in a global industry are few and far between: Alphabet Inc. in the search domain is one; going back several decades, perhaps De Beers at the peak of its control over more than three-quarters of the global diamond output; or even centuries ago, institutions like the Dutch East India Company monopolizing long-distance spice trade. However, unlike these historical monopolists, many aspects of Bitmain remain a mystery.

In 2017, Bitmain miners in a Chinese mining facility

The company is not publicly traded, and its official website does not disclose the global headquarters, CEO, or board members. The individual most closely associated with it is co-founder Jihan Wu, who rarely makes public appearances, has stepped down as chairman without a clear timeline for succession, successor identity, or even confirmation of a successor.

Even in recent months, Bitmain's spokespersons consistently refuse to clarify even the most basic corporate structure and governance information, including the identity of major shareholders. Due to the company selling a range of miners at different price points, estimates of its annual revenue vary widely. A senior executive who works closely with Bitmain and requested anonymity cited internal research estimating the annual revenue between $2 billion and $3 billion. But even this figure is at best an educated guess.

However, two things are clear: first, Bitmain is headquartered in China; second, it has formed an alliance with one of President Donald Trump's children.

Trump's second son, Eric Trump, is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of American Bitcoin Corp. based in Miami. The company went public in New York last September, valuing his stake at around $548 million at the time. (Subsequently, with the overall crypto asset sell-off, the stock price plummeted significantly.) Eric's brother, Little Donald Trump, is also an investor, with the size of his stake undisclosed. American Bitcoin stated plans to purchase thousands of Antminer machines from Bitmain, aiming to become the world's largest Bitcoin mining enterprise, and has partnered with the Chinese company to develop a large data center in Texas.

This partnership marks a remarkable turnaround for Bitmain. Not long ago, it was facing a potential existential threat: a steadily escalating U.S. probe questioning whether its equipment posed a national security risk. In May 2024, the White House ordered the removal of thousands of Bitmain miners from a mine near a U.S. Air Force nuclear missile base. Last year, a report from the Senate Intelligence Special Committee warned that Bitmain miners near certain military bases were a "unacceptable risk."

In November, Bloomberg News reported that, according to a U.S. official and other sources familiar with the matter, Bitmain had been the focus of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to assess whether AntMiner machines could be remotely controlled for grid disruption or repurposed for espionage. Sources said the investigation, codenamed "Operation Red Sun," started during the Biden administration and continued at least into the early days of the second Trump term, with both administrations' National Security Councils discussing it.

Bitmain did not respond to detailed inquiries about potential security risks, but in a December statement, the company said it complies with all applicable laws and that reports of being under investigation were "grossly inaccurate and constitute fake news." An American Bitcoin spokesperson stated that the company "adheres to strict standards in national security, grid stability, and operational security," and believes that "as long as mining hardware is deployed according to modern industrial security standards, it does not pose a threat to the U.S. grid or national security."

Bitmain's Irene Gao, pictured in 2025

The current status of "Operation Red Sun" remains unclear, with the Department of Homeland Security telling Bloomberg Businessweek, "We cannot comment on any ongoing investigation." However, the collaboration between Bitmain and American Bitcoin continues, and its significant push into the U.S. has not ceased. In recent months, the company has opened up slightly to the outside world.

For this article, Bitmain arranged for Global Sales Director Irene Gao to be interviewed. She praised Trump's pro-encryption policies as "a very positive thing in the eyes of most of our customers," but when asked about basic details like names of core managers other than CEO Yang Cunyong, she deflected. "We just don't want to divulge any company information in that way," Irene Gao said.

Security Shadow: U.S. National Security Investigation and Encirclement

Aside from speculative investors seeking quick riches, the crypto industry has attracted two main types of people since its inception: technical geeks and loyal believers. The former focuses on the computational and mathematical challenges of creating and trading digital assets, while the latter is obsessed with the potential of these tools to transform the global financial system.

The two Chinese founders of Bitmain happened to belong to these two camps. Jihan Wu came from a chip design background and had previously founded a startup developing digital TV top boxes. Micree Zhan, on the other hand, had been an investment analyst who later became passionate about cryptocurrency. It is worth mentioning that he was the one who translated the original Bitcoin whitepaper from English to Chinese.

Their collaboration began over a dinner in Beijing in 2013. Zhan once said that he went to Wikipedia early the next morning to look up cryptocurrency-related content and immediately decided to start a business with Wu. According to multiple sources who have had contact with the two and requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation, both shared some common traits: they were somewhat socially awkward, kept an extremely low profile throughout most of their careers, rarely appeared in public or gave interviews. Insiders said that they both tended to become irritable under pressure, with Zhan, known for his low and hoarse voice, being witnessed by some people shouting at employees in the office, his voice echoing throughout the building.

When Zhan and Wu founded Bitmain in 2013, Bitcoin mining was not dominated by giant data centers operated by public companies as it is today. It was a world where enthusiasts were crazily chasing the latest cutting-edge equipment. That year, Bitcoin first surpassed $1,000. The cryptocurrency was still in its infancy, with the majority of coins yet to be mined. At that time, better mining machines could still significantly increase the network's hash rate, a measure of the platform's required computational power for processing transactions. As long as miners could get their hands on the most advanced mining rigs as quickly as possible, they could make a stable profit.

2017, Bitmain employees

In November 2013, Bitmain launched its first mining rig, the Antminer S1. By today's standards, it was very rudimentary, with no casing; the hashing board and circuits were exposed. However, as one of the earliest ASIC-based miners, it was also considered one of the most powerful devices at the time, marking a qualitative leap over competitors and driving the industry towards specialized hardware. Subsequent generations of Antminers made even greater advancements, with each iteration almost redefining the market: if miners did not buy the latest model, they could not compete at all.

In 2017, with Bitcoin's price surging over 250%, the demand for Antminers soared even higher. A mid-2018 round of private financing valued Bitmain at $12 billion. Its growth attracted widespread attention, and an August 2018 round of financing documents even made their way to Jeffrey Epstein's desk. Communications between Epstein, the disgraced financier, and his advisor released by the US Department of Justice in January of this year revealed that he was eager to invest up to $3 million in Bitmain's holding company but had some concerns about the deal structure. The documents did not indicate whether this investment ultimately materialized.

Shortly after this communication, Bitmain filed for an IPO in Hong Kong, disclosing a revenue of $2.5 billion, a significant increase from $137 million two years ago. The prospectus indicated that Jihan Wu held approximately 36% of the shares at the time, while Micree Zhan held about 20%, with both of their net worth reaching billions of dollars. Other shareholders included Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital, and Coatue.

However, placing their wealth on the bet of a cryptocurrency price surge also meant facing a disaster when prices plummeted. As the market experienced another crash, the IPO plan was eventually shelved. The entire industry entered the so-called "crypto winter," a prolonged period of low prices. Meanwhile, cracks began to show in the partnership between Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan. According to sources who requested anonymity, the disagreement stemmed from a strategic dispute: Jihan Wu wanted Bitmain to enter the field of artificial intelligence, using the chips for applications like training facial recognition technology; whereas the crypto faithful Micree Zhan opposed deviating from the company's original mission.

By the end of 2019, Micree Zhan attempted to take full control of the company, leading to Jihan Wu being removed as the legal representative and chairman of Bitmain. Jihan Wu then filed a lawsuit in the Cayman Islands, where Bitmain's holding company was registered. A protracted power struggle ensued, culminating in a dramatic confrontation at a government office in Beijing: a physical altercation took place. Former reporter Hazel Hu witnessed this scene in 2020. She recalled that as Jihan Wu was waiting to receive Bitmain's paper business license at the Haidian District Market Supervision Administration, his supporters clashed with those backing Micree Zhan present at the scene, resulting in a scuffle over the documents. The police quickly arrived from a nearby station to quell the conflict that had spread downstairs and onto the streets.

The following year, Micree Zhan acknowledged defeat and resigned from his positions as CEO and chairman of Bitmain. (The dispute between the two was eventually settled; Micree Zhan now serves as the chairman of the mining rig manufacturer BitDeer Group and a cryptocurrency investment platform.) Despite the internal turmoil, Bitmain continued its expansion, especially after the resurgence of Bitcoin prices in 2020. As the mathematical puzzle between mining firms and profits became increasingly complex, Antminers became a necessity. "They are the most efficient devices at the moment," said Vishnu Mackenchery, Senior Director of Corporate Development at U.S.-based Compass Mining.

Antminer units being assembled at a Shenzhen factory

At that time, Bitmain's sales were heavily concentrated in the domestic market. Data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance showed that in 2019, China accounted for about three-quarters of the global Bitcoin mining hash rate. However, in 2021, the Chinese government cracked down on the crypto mining industry citing high energy consumption and carbon emissions. The result was a massive exodus of miners moving to regions with relatively cheaper electricity and a more favorable regulatory environment—conditions that were particularly prominent in certain areas of the United States. As a mining rig manufacturer rather than a mining firm, Bitmain was not shut down and continued its operations in Beijing, establishing distribution centers in various Southeast Asian locations. But from that point on, its fate would be determined by the United States.

Following a policy shift in China, Bitmain increased its sales efforts to U.S. miners and expanded into a side business of managing mining operations for U.S. customers. To give the company a more public face in the U.S., it also moved Irene Gao to the U.S. Irene Gao, who joined Bitmain shortly after graduating from college in 2016, initially spent long stretches flying between cities in the U.S. with a suitcase, pitching products to clients. Like much of Bitmain's information, sales numbers and market share during this period remain opaque, but industry veterans say it is unquestionably emerging as a leader.

However, the company soon felt the impact of geopolitical tensions. During the first Trump administration, the White House imposed a 25% tariff on various Chinese-made electronics, leading Bitmain to start transshipping products through Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, a common practice for Chinese manufacturers, but U.S. authorities viewed this as a customs violation. The Trump administration largely maintained these tariffs, and in 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspected a shipment of Antminers destined for a mining firm in Connecticut, Sphere 3D Corp.

Upon inspecting a device, officials found a tiny "Made in China" label on internal components. According to Sphere 3D's then-CEO Patricia Trompeter, the 4,000 units were held for three months. Concerned about further delays, some miners began to diversify risk by shifting orders to competitors with established production facilities in the U.S., a move Bitmain had not yet made at the time.

Bitmain's most severe scrutiny, however, goes beyond tariff evasion: could its miners be tampered with for purposes other than mining? Suspicions started circulating in the crypto community in 2017 when an industry publication reported that Antminers contained code allowing Bitmain to shut them down remotely. The company quickly confirmed the existence of this code but claimed its purpose was legitimate, enabling the deactivation of stolen miners, similar to how Apple lets users lock lost iPhones. Bitmain later stated that it had removed this function, but two years later, tech bloggers found similar code, prompting the company to issue a security patch.

According to a source familiar with internal deliberations and requesting anonymity, during the Biden administration, U.S. officials commissioned a study to assess whether Bitmain's miners and other Chinese-made mining machines could pose a national security risk. The source stated that the investigation focused on two different directions: first, whether the miners could be used for espionage. Cryptographic hardware experts believe that due to their highly specialized engineering design, while not entirely impossible, this possibility is extremely low; second, and of greater concern to the U.S. government: the impact remote shutdown could have on the U.S. power grid.

When a large electricity user (e.g., a steel mill) goes offline, it's usually a planned gradual process, with power consumption gradually decreasing over two days or longer. The power consumption of a Bitcoin mining facility may be comparable, but it can be shut down within seconds. The individual said U.S. officials are concerned that this "shock event" could cause a sudden imbalance between power generation and consumption, potentially disrupting power stability. The most horrifying scenario is: a remote command from China shuts down thousands of Bitmain mining machines, which are located near military bases or other critical infrastructure relying on the same power source.

"Anyone who hacks into an entire data center, whether it's AI, cryptocurrency, or cloud service data centers, could potentially cause serious damage to the power grid," said Michael Bedford Taylor, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Washington. However, he also cautioned that Bitmain itself is unlikely to have the motivation to do so.

In spring 2024, the Biden administration publicly expressed security concerns about a mining facility. The facility is located near Cheyenne, Wyoming, covering 12 acres, where a China-affiliated company has installed as many as 15,000 mining machines, most of which are from Bitmain. The investors in the facility hope that it will one day become one of the largest mining facilities in the U.S., benefiting from Wyoming's low land costs and abundant power resources. It happens to be about a mile from Warren Air Force Base, one of three U.S. Air Force bases that deploy land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.

On May 13, 2024, Biden issued an executive order mandating the shutdown of the mining facility operated by MineOne Partners LLC. The document stated that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States had "identified national security risks." Although not explicitly mentioning concerns about the power grid, the order noted that the risks include the "presence of potentially exploitable surveillance and espionage-related foreign-owned equipment." The batch of mining machines was soon loaded onto trucks and taken away.

Political Alliance: Joining Hands with the Trump Family for a Comeback

This was a significant and public setback, as the U.S. government explicitly tied Bitmain equipment to at least the potential for malicious use. However, just a few months later, the company began to advance a project that could potentially completely change its fortunes.

2017 - Bitmain mining facility in China

Meetings that led to President Trump's son setting up a Bitcoin mining company began in late 2024, according to Michael Ho, a Chinese-Canadian businessman and Eric Trump's crypto business partner. Like Bitmain's co-founder Jihan Wu, Michael Ho is also a fervent believer, boasting about mining his first Bitcoin before he was legally old enough to drink. When he met Eric, he and his partner, Asher Genoot, were running a Miami-based mining company, Hut 8 Corp. The company was a significant customer of Bitmain's Antminer mining rigs.

Michael Ho recalled that the two initially "met through many mutual friends in the Florida circle." He said that after several meetings in Miami and the surrounding areas, the relationship quickly warmed up, including a discussion at the Jupiter Trump National Golf Club.

Eric Trump, who has long served as an executive in the family's real estate business, is increasingly delving into the crypto space. After previously calling Bitcoin a scam, his father embraced the industry during his campaign, promising at a meeting in Nashville to make the U.S. a "Bitcoin superpower."

In September 2024, the Trump family established a company called World Liberty Financial, with a grand yet quite vague vision of enabling "everyone to access tools and opportunities that have long been restricted."

Initially, World Liberty Financial appeared to fail as speculators largely ignored its initial token offering. These tokens neither granted holders the right to company profits nor could be resold after purchase, completely undermining the traditional investment purpose.

However, after Trump's reelection, the situation quickly changed: various digital asset prices skyrocketed, and business figures hoping to get close to the presidential family and access resources began to invest in its numerous enterprises. The Wall Street Journal reported in February this year that Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi ruling family agreed on the eve of the president's inauguration to invest $500 million in World Liberty Financial.

In September last year, American Bitcoin co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Eric Trump and CEO Michael Ho were interviewed on Bloomberg TV in New York

Michael Ho said that persuading Eric to enter the mining industry was not difficult. "After face-to-face communication and deepening our understanding, we quickly reached a consensus," he said in an interview with Bloomberg News last year. In March 2025, the two publicly disclosed their intricately structured plan.

Just a month ago, Eric and Little Donald had just co-founded American Data Centers. Now, Hut 8 will acquire 80% of the company using mining machines as payment, rather than cash or stock. After acquiring all of Hut 8's Bitmain mining machines, American Data Centers was renamed American Bitcoin. Targeting investors, the pitch deck of this new entity claims that its goal is to "become the world's largest and most efficient professional Bitcoin mining enterprise, while establishing a strong strategic Bitcoin reserve."

Just a few short months later, American Bitcoin decided to go public not through the traditional IPO route with its required disclosures and strict scrutiny, but by merging with a small company Gryphon Digital Mining Inc. This approach, commonly adopted by crypto companies, has gained regulatory approval. Michael Ho serves as CEO, with Genoot as Executive Chairman. Eric is in charge of business strategy, but due to his numerous other business interests, his expected time commitment is quite limited. A spokesperson for American Bitcoin stated that Eric is a "core member of the company's leadership team."

All of this ultimately led to an awkward situation. As a candidate, Donald Trump had promised to ensure that Bitcoin was "mined, minted, manufactured in America," yet the Antminers relied upon by American Bitcoin are entirely Chinese-made. Just a year ago, the Biden administration had classified these mining rigs as potential national security threats, and now they are set to make money for the next president's two sons.

Perhaps realizing these contradictions, along with the overall "America First" sentiment, Bitmain quickly announced adjustments to some of its business plans. Irene Gao stated that the company will establish a new headquarters and assembly line in either Texas or Florida and employ 250 local workers.

Bitmain Circuit Board

As these plans move forward, Michael Ho downplayed security concerns about Bitmain products. "The reality has proven that these ASIC chips are programmed for one purpose only, which is to perform computations for the SHA-256 algorithm," he said in a September Bloomberg TV interview. He described choosing Bitmain miners as acquiring the most advanced technology: "Bitmain remains the most competitive and efficient."

Even with the most powerful equipment, Bitcoin mining is now more challenging to profit from than ever before. Over the past six months, the price of Bitcoin has dropped over 40% to around $74,000 per coin, with about 95% of the fixed supply already mined. American Bitcoin's stock price has plummeted nearly 90% from its peak in September last year, with a market cap of around $960 million. On February 26, the company announced a $59 million loss for the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, Eric's association with the company continues to bring him substantial income.

Public records show no evidence of him putting in a significant amount of money at the company's founding, but based on the current stock price, his stake is worth around 75 million dollars. If Bitcoin bounces back, driven by either government policy changes or other market factors, the value of his and his brother Donald's stakes could see a substantial increase.

Bitmain is currently working with customers to address allegations of security vulnerabilities. Months after the Biden administration ordered the removal of Bitmain miners near a Wyoming nuclear missile silo, U.S. mining firm CleanSpark Inc. took over the site. The company quickly reinstalled miners purchased from Bitmain's U.S. subsidiary, with the contract stipulating all equipment is "non-China of origin" or from any country under U.S. sanctions. CleanSpark stated in a release that it prioritizes national security, operates in "full compliance with the law," and further noted that its operational agreement in Wyoming was "subject to final approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)."

Meanwhile, American Bitcoin is expanding its partnership with Bitmain. The company disclosed in a September filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it will acquire over 16,000 Antminers. Unusually, the terms involve no cash payment but instead Bitcoin "pledged" as payment, with the price undisclosed. This represents an option structure allowing for exercise at any point within two years. Some industry experts view this arrangement, particularly the extended exercise period, as highly favorable for American Bitcoin.

Another collaboration project between the two companies is taking shape in the Panhandle region of Texas: a data center equivalent to the size of five football fields, likely to be one of the world's largest Bitcoin mining facilities. Bitmain and American Bitcoin jointly designed this project named Vega, which commenced operations in June. According to Michael Ho, the mining facility is equipped with the latest liquid-cooled Antminers.

Bitmain sees American Bitcoin more as a partner than just a customer. Last year, Irene Gao and Genoot jointly attended a cryptocurrency conference, Bitcoin Asia, held in Hong Kong. They sat on stage with a large screen behind them showcasing the Vega project, reportedly built at a cost of 500 million dollars.

Irene Gao claimed that Bitmain's latest model, the S23 Hydro Antminer, has received over 1 billion dollars in pre-sale orders. The practical gray-colored miners are priced at 17,400 dollars each. "All these machines will be manufactured in the U.S.," she said.

The next day, Irene Gao was interviewed by a Bloomberg Businessweek reporter in the suite of the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. She emphasized that the Antminer sales and joint projects like Vega were just the beginning of BitContinental's collaboration with American Bitcoin. "We can work very flexibly with them, offering fully customized solutions based on their needs," she said. "We will deploy the miners in their infrastructure, selling them either as a package to our customers or directly to their affiliated companies." However, she repeatedly declined to answer more specific questions about the relationship between the two companies.

The topic Irene Gao most wanted to discuss was her optimism about the future of Bitcoin, especially the future of BitContinental. She stated that part of her confidence comes from the development of such conferences. "You will see many influential people," she said, not only cryptocurrency enthusiasts but also representatives from the traditional finance industry.

This includes a keynote speaker scheduled for the next day: Eric Trump. He is set to ignite the audience with an upbeat prediction: the price of Bitcoin will surpass $1 million, about 14 times the current levels. "This is a positive sign," Irene Gao mentioned regarding the number of attendees, "a scene of prosperity."

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