Trump-backed American Bitcoin board members scoop up stock following earnings

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Trump-backed American Bitcoin board members scoop up stock following earnings Board members Justin Mateen and Richard Busch bought roughly 1.6 million shares after the trading window reopened following the bitcoin miner’s latest earnings report. By Will Canny | Edited by Stephen Alpher Mar 5, 2026, 11:30 a.m. Make us preferred on Google Eric Trump, co-founder and chief strategy officer, American Bitcoin. (CoinDesk) What to know : American Bitcoin board members Justin Mateen and Richard Busch purchased roughly 1.63 million shares combined in open-market buys. The bitcoin miner reported a $59 million fourth quarter loss, while Eric Trump said the firm now holds over 6,500 BTC, ranking it the 17th-largest publicly traded bitcoin holder. ABTC pursues a dual strategy of mining and direct BTC purchases and recently bought 11,298 ASIC miners to boost capacity by about 12%. Two board members of American Bitcoin (ABTC), the bitcoin mining company backed by the Trump family, have made significant open-market share purchases of the firm's stock, according to a Thursday filing. Justin Mateen, co-founder of Tinder and an ABTC board member since March 2025, bought approximately 1.3 million shares at an average price of about $1 per share. The stock closed at $1.15 on Wednesday. Fellow board member Richard Busch, a partner at law firm King & Ballow, purchased about 330,000 shares over the last two days. The timing is notable, as the trading window opened after ABTC released its latest earnings report , making these the first purchases insiders could make following the disclosure. The bitcoin mining firm reported a $59 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2025, as the sharp decline in the price of the largest cryptocurrency reduced the value of its holdings. Eric Trump said in a Wednesday post on X that American Bitcoin now holds more than 6,500 BTC, an increase of over 500 BTC since the last disclosure. The update places the firm among the world’s 17 largest publicly traded bitcoin holders. The miner went public in September , less than a month before bitcoin reached a record high. The stock has struggled along with the price of BTC, the shares tumbling from about the $8 level to the current $1.15. ABTC is following a dual strategy of BTC mining and direct purchases. About one-third of its bitcoin comes from mining operations, while the remainder is acquired through open-market purchases and strategic transactions, largely financed by stock sales. The firm is 20% owned by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. The company announced Tuesday that it had bought 11,298 ASIC miners, a move that it said will increase its mining capacity by about 12%. 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