Original title: How Eric Trump Become an Ally of One of China's Biggest Cripto Companies

Original by Ryan Weeks, Bloomberg

Original language: Luffy, Foresight News

The continent of Bit, once considered by the United States to be a threat to national security, deep-seated security and remote manipulation of mines, is the absolute leader of the global Bitcoin mining industry. The mysterious Chinese company, after a White House injunction and an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, unexpectedly entered into a major business alliance with its son Eric Trump。

On the one hand, China’s mining giants, which have been questioned as endangering the security of the electricity grid and military bases, and on the other hand, Bitcoin, which is under the banner of the United States President’s family, have set up super-mines in Texas, opening up heavy-pound cooperation。This paper restores the alliance between politics and encrypted currency, uncovering how the Bitt continent has turned its back from America's "ban list" and becoming one of the Tremp family's most critical business partners。

Here is the full translation:

Mines empire: the mysterious and monopolistic continent of Bit

FROM THE SPECIAL DATA CENTRE IN THE VILLAGE OF TEXAS TO THE WOOD REHABILITATION PLANT IN BORNEO, THERE IS A ROW OF SHOE BOX-SHAPED MACHINES THAT MAKE DEAFENING NOISES, SOMETIMES DRAWING COMPLAINTS FROM NEIGHBOURS. EACH MACHINE CONSISTS OF HUNDREDS OF DEDICATED INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (ASIC), PRODUCED AT HIGH COST BY ADVANCED FACTORIES IN TAIWAN. THE CHIPS ARE WELDED ON THREE SEALED POWER PANELS, OPERATING VIOLENTLY, AND ALL INSTRUCTIONS ARE ISSUED BY THE CONTROL BOARD. DEPENDING ON THE SPECIFIC MODEL, MACHINES USE BUILT-IN FANS OR LIQUID COOLING SYSTEMS TO PREVENT COMPONENTS FROM OVERHEATING, AND THEY CONSUME HUGE AMOUNTS OF ELECTRICITY WHEREVER THEY ARE INSTALLED。

THE EQUIPMENT HAS ONLY ONE PURPOSE: TO DECIPHER THE BOTTOM ALGORITHM OF BITCOIN SHA – 256. SHA – 256 IS A SO-CALLED ONE-WAY FUNCTION, WHICH MEANS THAT THE ONLY WAY TO SOLVE THE MATHEMATICAL DILEMMA THAT IT CREATES IS TO KEEP TRYING. BITCOIN MINERS MAKE A LIVING BY DOING SO, AND ONCE CORRECTLY CALCULATED, THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO VERIFY OTHERS ' TRANSACTIONS AND RECEIVE A BITCOIN INCENTIVE。

So their profits depend directly on how many times each of these devices, known as the Ant Miner, can be calculated: hundreds of billions of times per second. A top-up ant miner is sold at $17,400. Large mining companies own up to half a million mining machines, with prior investments of billions of dollars, but this capital expenditure is negligible compared to potential returns, at least when the price of the encrypted currency is high. Some users compared it to printers with a row of printed lottery tickets, although the chances of winning the prize were much higher。

The ants are a flagship product of Bitcontinent Technology Ltd. Not only does the company dominate the mining industry of bitcoin, but for most of its development historyIt's almost the industry itself, with a market share of over 80 percent。

There are few companies that can achieve such absolute control in the global industry. There are few: Alphabet Inc. in the search field is one; it goes back decades, perhaps the De Beers, which at its peak accounted for more than three quarters of global diamond production; and even a few hundred years ago, the Dutch East India company monopolized the long-distance spice trade。But unlike these historical monopolies, many aspects of the continent remain a mystery。

In 2017, a bit mainland miner in a mine in China

The company is not listed, nor is the list of global headquarters, chief executive officers or board members published on the official network. The closest person to him is the co-founder of the Jjaks, who has almost never appeared in public and no longer holds the position of Chairman, but it is not clear to the outside world when he will resign, who will succeed him or even whether there will be a successor。

Until recent months, the spokesperson for the continent of Bittland consistently refused to clarify even the most basic corporate structures and governance messages, including the identity of major shareholders. As a result of the company ' s sales of multi-money mining machines at different prices, annual revenue estimates vary considerably. An in-house study by a senior executive who worked closely with the continent and requested anonymity estimated annual sales at between $2 billion and $3 billion. But even this number is, at best, a valid guess。

However, two things are clear:First, the continent of Bit is based in China; second, it has formed an alliance with a child of President Donald Trump。

Trump's second son, Eric Trump, was co-founder and chief strategic officer of American Bitcoin Corp., based in Miami. The company was listed in New York last September and his shares were valued at approximately $548 million. (The stock price has since fallen significantly with the overall sale of encrypted assets. Eric's brother Donald Trump, Jr., was also an investor and the size of the holdings was not disclosed. American Bitcoin stated that it planned to purchase thousands of Bitcontinental ant machines, eventually becoming the world ' s largest Bitcoin mining company, and had worked with this Chinese company to develop a large data centre in Texas。

That cooperation represents an alarming reversal for the continent of the Bite. Just recently, it faced the challenge of life and death:The United States continues to escalate its investigations to question whether its equipment constitutes a national security threat。In May 2024, the White House ordered the dismantling of thousands of pit mainland mines near a United States Air Force nuclear missile base. Last year, a report by the Senate Special Committee on Intelligence warned that the presence of the Bitcontinental mines near some of the military bases “posing an unacceptable risk”。

In November, Bloomberg News reported that, according to a United States official and other sources, Bitland had been the focus of an investigation by the United States Department of Homeland Security to determine whether an ant machines could be remotely controlled for the destruction of the electricity grid or diversion to espionage. According to the source, this investigation, known as Operation Red Day, began during the Biden administration and continued at least until the beginning of the second term in Trump, which was discussed by the National Security Council of both Governments。

Not responding to detailed inquiries about potential security risks, Bitland stated in a December statement that companies were complying with all applicable laws and that reports that they were being investigated were “seriously incorrect and false”. American Bitcoin, for his part, said that the company “observes strict standards in terms of national security, grid stability and operational security” and “convinced that as long as mine hardware is deployed in accordance with modern industrial safety standards, there is no threat to the United States electricity grid or national security”。

Irene Gao, from Bitland, in 2025

The current state of progress of Operation Red Day is unclear, and the Department of Homeland Security has stated to Bloomberg Business Weekly that it is not in a position to comment on the ongoing investigation。But the cooperation between Bitcontinental and American Bitcoin continues, and its aggressive march into the United States has not stopped. In recent months, the company has been somewhat open to outsiders。

For the purposes of this report, a global sales director, Irene Gao, was interviewed in Bitland. She praised Trump’s pro-encryptist policy, “This is a very good thing for most of our clients,” but avoided it when asked about simple information, such as the name of the core manager other than CEO Yang Cunyong. “We simply do not want to disclose any information about the company in this way,” Irene Gao said。

Security Shadow: US National Security Investigation and Blockage

Apart from speculators seeking rapid enrichment, the encryption industry has attracted two categories of people since its inception:Technological extremists and faithful believers. While the former focus mainly on the computational and mathematical challenges of creating and trading digital assets, the latter are obsessed with the potential for these instruments to transform global finance。

The creation of two Chinese entrepreneurs in Bitland happens to belong to both camps. The JC was a chip designer and had previously established a start-up company to develop television roof boxes. Wu Qing was an investment analyst and then became obsessed with encrypted currency; it is worth mentioning that it was he who translated the original classic Bitcoin White Paper on encrypted currency from English into Chinese。

Their collaboration began with a dinner in Beijing in 2013. The JC stated that he went to Wikipedia the morning after which he decided to start a business with Wu Qing. According to a number of individuals who had been in contact with them and who had requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, they shared a number of characteristics: some of them were in poor social relationships, had been extremely low-profile for most of their careers, had rarely appeared in public or had been interviewed; according to the source, they were subject to stress and had been seen shouting at staff members in the office and heard throughout the building。

At the time of the creation of Bit Continent in 2013 by the Jacques and Wu Quest, the mining of bitcoin was not as dominated as today by a giant data centre operated by listed companies. It's a world where lovers are crazy about the latest sophisticated equipment. That year, bitcoin broke for the first time by $1,000, and this encrypted currency is still in its infancy, and most of the tokens have not yet been dug out. At that time, a better miner still had the potential to bring about a significant increase in global computing power, an indicator of the ability to calculate the processing platform. As long as miners have access to state-of-the-art mining machines as soon as possible, they will be able to make a steady gain。

In 2017, a Bitland employee

BITLAND LAUNCHED A FIRST-RATE MINER ANT MINER S1 IN NOVEMBER 2013. BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, IT IS VERY SIMPLE, EVEN WITHOUT A SHELL, AND THE POWER PANELS AND LINES ARE EXPOSED DIRECTLY. BUT AS ONE OF THE FIRST MACHINES BASED ON THE ASIC CHIP, WHICH WAS ALSO THE MOST POWERFUL AT THE TIME, IT MADE A QUALITATIVE LEAP OVER COMPETITORS AND PUSHED THE INDUSTRY TOWARDS A SHIFT TO SPECIALIZED HARDWARE。The next generation of ants have advanced even more, and the market has almost been redefined each time: If miners do not buy the latest money, they cannot compete at all。

Bitcoin prices increased by more than 250 per cent in 2017, further boosting demand for ants. The round of private fundraising in the middle of the following year brought the Bitland valuation to $12 billion. Its growth has generated widespread concern, and a new round of financing in August 2018 was even sent to Jeffrey Epstein's desk. The communication between the United States Department of Justice and its advisors, published in January this year, indicates that the defiant financier is eager to invest up to $3 million in holding companies in Bitland, but has some concerns about the structure of the transaction. The document does not show whether the investment eventually landed。

Shortly after this communication, Bitland submitted a listing application to Hong Kong, with a disclosure account of $2.5 billion, up significantly from $137 million two years ago. According to the book, the JC had about 36 percent of the stock, Wu had about 20 percent of the stock, and both had billions of dollars. Other shareholders include Redwood Capital China Fund, IDG Capital and Coatue。

But placing wealth in the price of encrypted currency also means facing disaster when prices fall. As the market fell again, the listing scheme eventually stalled. The whole industry has entered the so-called "crypted winter" — a long price downturn. At the same time, there has been a rift in the cooperation between the Jacques and Wu。An anonymous source of information was asked to reveal that differences arose from strategic disputes: The JC hopes that the continent of Bit will move into the realm of military intelligence and that the chips will be used for applications such as training in face recognition techniques, while Wu, a faithful and encrypted believer, will oppose deviation from the company ' s original mission。

By the end of 2019, Wu Zhiyong attempted to take full control of the company, and the JC was removed from the position of legal representative and chairman of the Bit Continent. The JC immediately instituted proceedings in the Cayman Islands, where Bitcont Holdings is registered. The long power struggle followed and culminated in a dramatic culmination: physical clashes at a government office in Beijing. Former journalist Hazel Hu witnessed this scene in 2020. She recalled that while the JC was waiting for a paper licence for the Bitcontinental Market Supervisory Authority, there was a dispute between his supporters and the supporters of Wu Qing, who were present, and that the parties were fighting over documents. The police quickly arrived at the scene from a nearby police station and stopped the clashes that spread downstairs and on the streets。

The following year, Wu Qin acknowledged his failure and resigned as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Bit Continent. (The dispute between the two sides was finally settled; Wu Zhu Chiu is now the chairman of the mining machine manufacturer, the Bit Moose Group, and an encrypted investment platform.) Despite internal unrest, Bit Continent continues to expand, especially after the price of bitcoin rose again in 2020. As the mathematical dilemma between a mine and profit becomes more complex, ant machines become essential. “They are the most efficient equipment today,” Vishnu Mackenchery, Senior Director of Enterprise Development, Compass Mining, United States。

Shenzhen factory is putting together an ant miner

At that time, there was a high concentration of sales in the local market. Data from the Cambridge Alternative Financial Centre show that in 2019 China accounted for about three quarters of the global mining capacity of bitcoin. However, in 2021, the Chinese Government severely overhauled the encrypted mining industry on the grounds of high energy consumption and carbon emissions。The result is a massive outflow of miners to areas where electricity is relatively cheap and regulatoryly friendly — conditions that are particularly prominent in parts of the United States。As a mine manufacturer rather than a mining company, Bit Continent has not been shut down, continues to operate in Beijing and has established distribution centres throughout South-East Asia. But from then on, its future will be determined by the United States。

After China’s policy was adjusted, Bit Continent increased its sales to American miners and expanded a side business to manage mining operations for United States clients。To create an open face for the company in the United States, it also transferred Irene Gao to the United States。Irene Gao joined the continent shortly after he graduated from the University in 2016, when she first arrived in the United States, dragging her suitcases and travelling through cities to promote products to clients. As with much information from the continent of Bitt, sales and market shares during this period remain non-transparent, but senior industry figures indicate that it is undoubtedly becoming the dominant。

However, the company was quickly affected by geopolitical tensions。During the first government of Trump, the White House imposed a 25 per cent tariff on a wide range of Chinese-produced electronic products, and Bitland began trans-shipment through Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, a common practice of Chinese manufacturers, which the United States authorities considered to be a violation of customs regulations. President Deng has largely maintained these tariffs, and in 2022, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspected an ants machine that was sent to the Connecticut mining company Sphere 3D Corp。

When a device was removed, the staff found a small "Chinese made" label on their internal components. According to Sphere 3D, then Chief Executive Officer Patricia Trompeter, a total of 4000 mines were detained for three months. Out of concern about further delays, some miners began to spread risks by shifting orders to competitors who had established production bases in the United States, as had not yet been done in Bitland。

The worst challenge in the continent is far more deadly than tariff evasion: Its machines could be tampered with for purposes other than mining。In 2017, the encryption ring began to circulate the suspicion, when an industrial media reported that the ants were built into the code and allowed the remote shutdown of the Bitcontinental. The company quickly confirmed the existence of the code, but asserted that its purpose was legitimate, i.e. the mine could be invalidated after theft, similar to Apple allowing users to lock the lost iPhone. Bitcontinental subsequently indicated that it had been removed, but two years later the technology owner discovered a similar code; the company released a security patch。

According to one person who requested anonymity and information about internal confidentiality deliberations, during the Biden administration, United States officials commissioned a study to assess whether mining machines in Bitland and other Chinese-made mines could pose a national security risk。According to the source, the investigation was conducted in two different directions:First, it is possible that mines could be used for espionage. Encryption hardware experts believe that this possibility is extremely low, if not totally impossible, given its highly specialized engineering design; and, secondly, that the United States Government attaches greater importance to the possible impact of a remote shutdown on the United States grid。

When a large power unit (e.g. a steel plant) is offline, there is usually a planned gradual process whereby electricity consumption decreases over a period of two days or more. Bitcoin mines may consume equivalent electricity, but can be shut down in seconds. According to the source, United States officials feared that such a “shock incident” would result in a sudden imbalance between the amount of electricity generated and the amount used, which could destabilize the electricity supply. The worst scenario is the Chinese side ' s long-range command to shut down thousands of pit mainland mines, which are located near military bases or other critical infrastructure dependent on the same source of electricity。

"Anyone who hacks into the entire data centre, whether artificial intelligence, encrypted currency or cloud service data centre, can cause severe damage to the grid."Michael Bedford Taylor, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Washington, said, but at the same time he cautioned that it was unlikely that the continent itself had the motivation to do so。

In the spring of 2024, the Biden Government made public its security concerns about a mine。The mine is located near Cheyenne, Wyoming State, and occupies 12 acres, where a company linked to China has installed up to 15,000 mining machines, most of them from the Bit mainland. Mineral investors hope that one day it will become one of the largest mines in the United States and will benefit from the low land costs and abundant electricity resources in Wyoming. It happens to be about a mile from the United States Air Force Warren Air Base, one of the three bases where the United States Air Force deploys ground-based nuclear missiles。

On 13 May 2024, Biden issued an executive order forcing mine operator MineOne Partners LLC to shut down the project。According to the document, the United States Foreign Investment Commission has "identified national security risks". Despite the lack of explicit reference to grid concerns, the order states that risks include the “existence of dedicated foreign-source equipment that may facilitate surveillance and espionage”。The rigs were quickly loaded onto trucks and taken away。

Political Convergence: Holding hands on the Trump family backwards

This was a major and overt setback, and the United States Government has clearly linked the equipment for the continent to the possibility of having at least malicious uses. Within a few months, however, the company began to advance a project that could radically change its situation。

In 2017, the Bit mainland mine in China

According to Eric Trump's encryption partner Michael Ho, a Chinese Canadian businessman, a series of meetings that led to the establishment of the Bitcoin Mining Corporation began at the end of 2024. Like the founder of the Bitcontinental Union, Wu Chiu, Michael Ho, a faithful believer, likes to brag that he's the first bitcoin in his life before he reaches the legal age of drinking. When he met Eric, he and his partner Asher Genoot operated the Miami-based mining company Hut 8 Corp., an important client of the Bit mainland Ant Miner。

Michael Ho remembers that they first met "through many mutual friends in the Florida circle." He said that, following several meetings in and around Miami, relations had risen rapidly, including a discussion at the National Golf Club in Jupiter Trump。

Eric Trump, a long-time executive in the family real estate business, is increasingly involved in encryption。Following earlier claims that Bitcoin was a fraud, his father turned to embrace the industry during the campaign and at a meeting in Nashville promised to make the United States a “bitcoin superpower”。

In September 2024, the Trump family founded a business called World Liberty Financial, with the ambitious but rather vague vision of "everyone has access to tools and opportunities that have long been restricted"。

Initially, World Liberty Financial seemed to have failed, and speculators largely ignored its initial token. These tokens do not give holders the right to share corporate income and cannot be bought and resold, contrary to the original intent of traditional investment。

The situation has changed rapidly since Trump’s re-election: the price of various digital assets has soared that business people who wish to approach the President’s family and gain access to resources are investing in many of their businesses。In February this year, Wall Street Journal reported that Sheikh Tahnon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a prominent member of the ruling family in Abu Dhabi, agreed to pay $500 million in shares on the eve of the inauguration of the President。

Last September, American Bitcoin, co-founder and Chief Strategic Officer Eric Trump and CEO Michael Ho, were interviewed by Bloomberg TV in New York

According to Michael Ho, it is not difficult to convince Eric to enter the mining industry. "We'll be together soon after we get to know each other in person," he said in an interview with Bloomberg News last year. In March 2025, the two men made their complex plans public。

Just a month ago, Eric and Donald Jr. just joined in creating American Data Centers. Today, Hut 8 will buy 80% of the company's shares as a payment for the mine, rather than using cash or shares. After the acquisition of Hut 8 all bit mainland mines, American Data Centers were renamed American Bitcoin。The investor-oriented presentation stated that the goal of the new enterprise was “to become the world’s largest and most efficient professional bitcoin mining company, with a strong strategic bitcoin reserve”。

Just a few months later, American Bitcoin decided to be listed, not through the disclosure and scrutiny of information required by traditional IPOs, but through a merger with a small enterprise, Gryphon Digital Mining Inc. This method is often adopted by encryption companies and accepted by regulatory bodies. Michael Ho served as Chief Executive Officer and Geoot as Executive Chairman. Eric is responsible for the business strategy, but due to his substantial other commercial interests, the time invested is expected to be quite limited. According to American Bitcoin, Eric is a "core member of the corporate leadership."。

All this eventually led to an awkward situation。As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to make sure that Bitcoin was "mining, casting, manufacturing" in the United States, while American Bitcoin relied on an ant machine that was entirely Chinese。And just a year ago, the Biden Government characterized these machines as a potential national security threat, and now they are making money for the two sons of the next President。

Perhaps aware of these contradictions, as well as the general "American first" public opinion climate, Bitland quickly announced a partial restructuring of the business plan. Irene Gao stated that the company would establish new headquarters and assembly lines in Texas or Florida and employ 250 local employees。

Bitland circuit board

As these plans advanced, Michael Ho diluted the safety concerns of the Pita continent's products. "It is well established that these ASIC chips were programmed for only one purpose, which is to calculate the SHA – 256 algorithms," he said in a September TV interview with Bloomberg. He will describe the selection of a Bitcontinental miner as the purchase of the most advanced technology:"The continent of Bit is still the most competitive and efficient."

Even with the most powerful equipment, bitcoin mining is harder to earn than ever before. Over the past six months, bitcoin prices have dropped by more than 40 per cent to about $74,000 each, and about 95 per cent of the fixed supply has been dug out. American Bitcoin stock prices fell by nearly 90 per cent from the high point last September, with a market value of about $960 million. On 26 February, the company announced a loss of $59 million for the fourth quarter。Nevertheless, Eric ' s association with the company has brought him substantial gains。

The filing documents showed that there was no indication that he had invested substantial funds at the time of the establishment of the company, but that his shares, at current equity prices, were worth approximately $75 million. If Bitcoin rebounded, whether driven by changes in government policy or other market factors, the value of his shares with his brother, Donald Jr., was likely to rise significantly。

Bit Continent is working with clients to defuse allegations of security gaps. A few months after the Byden government ordered the dismantling of the Bit mainland mine near the Wyoming nuclear missile base, the United States mining company CleanSpark Inc. took over the site. The company quickly re-installed mining machines purchased from the United States subsidiary in Bitland, the contract providing for all equipment "in the country of origin, non-China " or any country subject to United States sanctions. In its statement, CleanSpark stated that the company placed national security first and “fully legal”, adding that its operating agreement in Wyoming “was finalized only after approval by the United States Foreign Investment Commission”。

Meanwhile, American Bitcoin is expanding its cooperation with the Bit continent. The company disclosed in a document submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in September that more than 16,000 more ants would be purchased。The clause was unusual: the company did not have to pay cash, but rather through a “collateral” bitcoin, the price was not disclosed, which was equivalent to an option structure that could be exercised at any time within two years. According to some industry experts, this arrangement, particularly the long tenure period, is extremely generous to American Bitcoin。

Another cooperative project between the two companies is taking shape in the Panhandel region of Texas: a data centre of the size of five football fields is likely to be one of the world ' s largest Bitcoin mines. Bitcontinental and American Bitcoin jointly designed the project called Vega, which became operational in June. According to Michael Ho, the mine is equipped with new liquid cold ant machines。

The continent sees American Bitcoin more as a partner than a mere client. Last year, Irene Gao, together with Geoot, attended the Conference on Encrypted Currency in Hong Kong, Bitcoin Asia. The two were sitting on stage, behind a large screen showing the Vega project, which allegedly cost $500 million。

Irene Gao claims that the newest money mine in Bitland, the S23 Hydro Ant Miner, has received more than $1 billion in advance orders. This is a practical gray mine unit price of $17,400. "These machines will all be produced in the United States," she said。

The following day, Irene Gao was interviewed by a journalist for Business Weekly at the Hong Kong Coast Hotel suite. She stressed that ants marketing and joint projects such as Vega were only the beginning of a partnership between Bitland and American Bitcoin. “We can work with them very flexibly, customizing them according to their needs,” she said, “We can deploy the machines in their infrastructure, either to our customers or to their affiliates.” But she repeatedly refused to answer more specific questions about the relationship between the two companies。

Irene Gao's most interesting topic is her optimism about the future of TTcos, especially the future of the continent. She indicated that confidence was partly due to the development of such meetings. "You'll see a lot of influential people," she said, "Not only encryption lovers, but also representatives of the traditional financial industry."。

Among them will be a very important guest who will be speaking the next day: Eric Trump. He lit up the whole scene with exciting predictions:Bitcoin prices will be over $1 million, about 14 times the current level. "It's a good sign, Irene Gao, talking about the number of participants, says, "As a result of prosperity."

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