In brief
Hut 8, a Bitcoin mining firm with Trump family ties, raised $220 million to buy more equipment.
The company also registered an office in Dubai, a growing crypto hub, last week.
It follows a string of Trump-linked crypto ventures gaining traction in the UAE.
Hut 8, a Trump family-linked Bitcoin mining firm, has expanded its operations to Dubai, according to filings submitted last week to the Dubai International Financial Centre.
On Monday, the company also disclosed it had raised $220 million to purchase Bitcoin and mining infrastructure.
The company is the majority owner of American Bitcoin, a mining venture co-founded by Eric Trump, who served as its Chief Strategy Officer. His brother Donald Jr. is also a shareholder in the company.
Former Hut 8 Chief Commercial Officer Matt Prusak now leads American Bitcoin, and two Hut 8 executives sit on its board. American Bitcoin recently announced plans to go public via a merger with NASDAQ-listed Gryphon Digital Mining.
Hut 8 confirmed to Bloomberg that the Dubai office would house a new team focused on trading and digital asset strategies. The company already operates facilities in Texas, New York, and Alberta, Canada.
“Firms like Hut 8—which manage sizable Bitcoin reserves—Dubai offers an environment where capital strategies can include not just trading, but also real-world deployment,” Jakob Kronbichler, CEO and co-founder of Clearpool and Ozean, told Decrypt. “That’s exactly what institutional players are looking for.”
While President Donald Trump and his sons have promoted the idea of making the U.S. the global capital of crypto innovation, their business interests have been increasingly gravitating toward the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai, in particular, has become a magnet for crypto firms, drawn by its low taxes and relatively loose regulatory framework. But that same environment has also raised concerns about money laundering and financial crime.
The Aqua 1 Foundation, a UAE-based fund, has recently invested $100 million in tokens issued by World Liberty Financial, another crypto venture backed by Trump. One of its co-founders, Zach Witkoff, is the son of Steve Witkoff, a longtime Trump ally and his former special envoy to the Middle East.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Abu Dhabi, USD1, a stablecoin launched by World Liberty Financial, is being used to underpin a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance by local investment firm MGX.
Efforts in the U.S. by Democrats to stymie the ability of sitting presidents to profit from crypto deals have yet to gain any traction.
The Trump family has long had ties with the UAE, including operating a golf club there and a currently under-construction skyscraper.
The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Dubai will include luxury residences, a hotel, and what is billed as the world’s highest swimming pool. Announced earlier this year, the development allows property purchases in cryptocurrency, Eric Trump said in April.
Dubai’s growing status as a crypto hub is not without controversy. The city’s real estate and financial sectors have long been scrutinized for facilitating illicit financial flows.
Investigations by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) have highlighted Dubai’s role as a haven for money launderers and organized crime groups, shielded by lax disclosure rules and a lack of transparency.
Still, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has introduced a purpose-built framework that provides companies with “clear guidance,” according to Kronbichler.
“For firms managing crypto assets at scale, that kind of regulatory structure creates the confidence to execute more complex strategies,” he said.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
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