American Bitcoin Corp. (ABTC), a U.S. focused bitcoin mining and treasury firm company founded by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., saw its shares plunge as much as 50% on Tuesday. The drop came despite bitcoin rallying above $91,000 and gains for nearly all crypto-related stocks.
According to Nasdaq data, trading volume surged to 55 million shares compared with a 3 million daily average, signaling heavy selling pressure.
The decline is of particular note given the strong rally in bitcoin on Tuesday — which has gained back all of its panicky decline from the previous 36 hours to trade back to just shy of $92,000. That in turn, has pushed most crypto-related stocks higher
Not so, though, for ABTC, which remains down 40% and Hut 8 (HUT) — an 80% owner of ABTC — which is down 12%. A beneficiary of bitcoin miners shifting business plans to AI infrastructure, HUT had nearly tripled in price in the previous six months.
Speculation on the massive share price drop was around potential insider lockup selling; SEC filings, though, show a 180-day lockup that restricts most historical ABTC holders from selling until March 3, 2026.
A separate 12 month Investors Rights Agreement also imposes a standstill through September 3, 2026 including Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. A list of lockup periods by individual has been highlighted on X account RisenFit.
Amid a good deal of speculation and social media chatter, Eric Trump took to X to help explain the action.
“Today our pre-merger private placement shares unlocked — these early investors are freely available to cash in on their profits for the first time which is why we will see volatility,” said Trump. “Our fundamentals are virtually unmatched and our differentiator: mining BTC at ~50% of spot with 56% gross margin in Q3 and climbing the BTC ranks daily. I’m holding all my ABTC shares — I’m 100% committed to leading the industry.”
ABTC came public via a reverse merger with Gryphon Digital, which closed in September 2025, while shares were trading as high as $14. With today’s decline, the stock is now barely holding above $2.
ABTC’s collapse echoes other Trump-linked crypto disappointments. World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token is down 70% from its peak, and TRUMP and MELANIA meme coins have also plunged. Trump Media (DJT) — also crypto-related as it has built a sizable bitcoin treasury — has fallen about 75% year to date.
Update (Dec 2, 2025, 19:16 UTC): Added Eric Trump’s comments on the share price volatility.