*

Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump own about 20% of bitcoin

mining

company

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Trump family expands crypto ventures, including World

Liberty

Financial

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Eric Trump dismisses conflict of interest criticisms as

"insane"

By Koh Gui Qing and Milana Vinn

NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A bitcoin company tied to

President Donald Trump's two oldest sons more than doubled in

value in its stock market debut on Wednesday, valuing the sons'

stake at well over $1.5 billion as the first family grows their

crypto business interests.

Shares in American Bitcoin Corp, a bitcoin miner,

soared as high as $14.52 in its first day of trade on the

Nasdaq, before pulling back to be up 16.5% at $8.04 by the end

of the day.

The company is around 20% owned by Eric Trump and Donald

Trump Jr, American Bitcoin Executive Chairman Asher Genoot said

in a previous interview.

This values their stake in American Bitcoin at $1.5 billion

at the close of trade, based on 908.6 million outstanding shares

that American Bitcoin said it had in a September 2 stock

exchange filing. The highest price struck by the stock on

Wednesday valued their stake at $2.6 billion.

Crypto ventures have become an important driver of growth

and potential windfall profits for the president's family, where

the family business - The Trump Organization - had in the past

focused on building and running real estate projects and golf

courses.

"Crypto is exploding," Eric Trump said in an interview on

Wednesday. "I would be saying right now, the crypto space is at

least 50% of what I'm doing."

The Trump family's forays into crypto have drawn criticisms

from Democratic lawmakers and government ethics watchdogs about

conflicts of interests. Critics say the Trump family is

profiting from crypto at the same time when the president is

easing regulations and enforcement on the industry.

Eric Trump, the second son of Trump, dismissed such

criticisms on Wednesday as "insane."

"My father has absolutely nothing to do with this venture,"

Eric Trump said. "He's is running a nation. He's not involved in

our businesses in any way, shape or form."

Eric Trump, who holds the titles of co-founder and chief

strategy officer at American Bitcoin, described his role at the

company as akin to a spokesperson.

"Crypto had a very bad voice for a long time. They really

had a hard time communicating a message," Eric Trump said. "I

think I've become one of the great spokespeople for crypto over

the last, call it, you know, 12 to 18 months," he said.

"I think I've been able to put a great voice on that, not

just here in the U.S., but worldwide."

President Donald Trump has promised to be the "crypto

president," saying he backs the asset class because it can

improve the banking system and increase the dominance of the

U.S. dollar.

In line with his family's growing crypto interests, Eric

Trump has travelled internationally this year to cities

including Dubai, Hong Kong and Tokyo to rally foreign support

for the crypto industry.

The Trump family has launched a string of crypto ventures in

the past year, from American Bitcoin to World Liberty Financial,

and meme coins launched by Trump and his wife before the

president's inauguration in January.

World Liberty Financial, which debuted digital tokens known

as $WLFI on Monday, has earned the first family around $500

million since its launch last year, according to Reuters'

calculations.

Trump Media & Technology Group ( DJT ) and Crypto.com agreed

last month to a deal with a blank-check acquisition company to

launch a new venture that will pursue a treasury-style strategy

to buy the digital token CRO.

Hut 8 Corp ( HUT ), an energy infrastructure company that is

also involved in bitcoin mining, owns about 80% of American

Bitcoin.

American Bitcoin said in a stock exchange filing on

Wednesday it is also selling $2.1 billion worth of shares, and

plans to use the proceeds to buy bitcoins or bitcoin mining

machines.

(Reporting by Milana Vinn and Koh Gui Qing; additional

reporting by Summer Zhen in Hong Kong; Editing by Lincoln

Feast.)