American Bitcoin Corp. (ABTC), a US-focused bitcoin mining and finance company founded by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., saw its shares drop as much as 50% on Tuesday. The decline came despite bitcoin rising above $91,000 and gains for nearly all crypto-related stocks.
According to Nasdaq data, trading volume rose to 55 million shares, compared with a daily average of 3 million, signaling strong selling pressure.
The drop is particularly notable given the strong rally in bitcoin on Tuesday – which has retraced all of its frantic decline from the previous 36 hours to trade back to just $92,000. That in turn has pushed up most crypto-related stocks
However, that is not the case for ABTC, which remains down 40% and Hut 8 (HUT) – an 80% owner of ABTC – which is down 12%. A beneficiary of bitcoin miners moving business plans to AI infrastructure, HUT had nearly tripled in price in the previous six months.
The speculation about the massive share price drop was around the potential sale of insider lock. However, SEC filings show a 180-day lockup that restricts most historical ABTC holders from selling until March 3, 2026.
A separate 12-month deal on investor rights also imposes a freeze through September 3, 2026, including Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. A list of lockout periods by individual has been highlighted on the RisenFit X account.
ABTC went public via a reverse merger with Gryphon Digital, which closed in September 2025, with shares trading as high as $14. With today’s drop, the stock is now barely above $2.
ABTC’s collapse mirrors 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 dipped. Trump Media (DJT) — also crypto-related as it has built a significant bitcoin treasury — is down about 75% year-to-date.
