Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of U.S. President Donald Trump, disclosed how he and his brother, Eric Trump, influenced their father’s views on Bitcoin BTC/USD and cryptocurrency.
What Happened: Speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Trump Jr. revealed that the Trump family’s experience with widespread de-banking during Trump’s first presidential term led them to explore blockchain technology.
“We were real estate guys, we were hard assets, we built buildings — [bitcoin] was a bit nebulous,” Trump Jr. said. “But once we got into that political sector…we were getting de-banked, we were getting de-insured, we were getting de-everything. It was brutal.”
On being asked by Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski during the conference, “Did you Orange-Pill your dad?”, Trump Jr. replied. that he and Eric “..did some of that”.
He explained how both of them were instrumental in helping their father—who had once called Bitcoin a scam—recognize the potential of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
“We probably, maybe got there a little bit before him. Once we started explaining the potential, he's a quick study … he got there pretty quickly,” Trump Jr. said.
Trump Jr. also mentioned his father’s commitment to the democratization of finance, stating that it is a fundamental goal of the Trump administration.
Why It Matters: Trump Jr.’s revelation comes after he announced that the Trump Organization is “seriously long” on Bitcoin following the Trump Media & Technology Group‘s DJT decision to raise $2.5 billion to invest in the leading cryptocurrency. This shift in the Trump family’s stance on Bitcoin is a significant development in the cryptocurrency space.
Trump's return to office has sparked renewed efforts to advance crypto legislation and shift away from the “regulation-by-enforcement” approach. President Trump’s crypto and AI advisor, David Sacks, revealed that the path to acquiring Bitcoin for the strategic reserve is ready and it’s just a matter of getting the relevant executive departments “excited.”
Meanwhile, the Trump family's crypto projects, such as the Official TRUMP memecoin TRUMP/USD and World Liberty Financial, have faced criticism for a lack of transparency and potential conflicts of interest. Economist Peter Schiff criticized the President’s recent exclusive dinner with holders of his meme coin, stating that it should be “illegal” for a U.S. president to charge people to dine with him.
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