HONG KONG: Eric Trump predicted bitcoin would reach one million dollars within several years during his appearance at a conference in Hong Kong.
The second son of United States President Donald Trump called China “a hell of a power” in developing cryptocurrencies despite its ban on crypto trading.
Bitcoin has risen 18% this year but remains far below the one million dollar mark Trump predicted.
It hit a record high of 124,480 dollars in mid-August amid friendlier regulations from the Trump administration and strong institutional investor demand.
On Friday it traded around 110,000 dollars, slightly below those record highs.
“There’s no question bitcoin hits $1 million,“ Eric Trump said during a panel discussion at the Bitcoin Asia conference.
He cited surging institutional demand and limited supply as key drivers for his optimistic prediction.
Mainland China bans crypto trading but is considering yuan-backed stablecoins to boost its usage globally.
Hong Kong passed a stablecoin bill in May, competing with the United States and regional peers to become a global digital asset hub.
Asked whether his father and Chinese President Xi Jinping would discuss cryptocurrencies soon, Eric Trump said both countries probably understood digital currency “better than anybody else in the world”.
Eric Trump, an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said the bitcoin community had supported his father before he became United States president for a second time.
“And I hope that’s paid off in spades because we love this community. We believe in this community,“ he said.
The Trump family has expanded into several cryptocurrency ventures over the past year, including a crypto exchange, a stablecoin, a bitcoin mining operation, and digital asset ETFs.
A bitcoin miner backed by Eric Trump and his brother Donald Trump Jr. is preparing for a Nasdaq listing next month.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao told a separate panel that the United States was “setting the case” for forward-leaning regulations making other governments take action. – Reuters
