JBizNews Desk | May 7, 2026
Wall Street’s Crypto Reversal Goes Public
Eric Trump used one of the crypto industry’s biggest global stages Wednesday to deliver a message aimed directly at traditional banking giants: the fight against Bitcoin is over, and Wall Street lost.
Speaking at CoinDesk’s Consensus Miami 2026 conference before thousands of attendees representing more than 100 countries, Trump pointed to JPMorgan Chase as the clearest example of how dramatically the financial establishment has reversed course on cryptocurrency.
Just 18 months ago, major banks were still publicly attacking Bitcoin and warning clients against it. Now, according to Trump, many of those same institutions are actively building crypto businesses and integrating digital assets into mainstream finance.
“The financial institutions all realize that they’ve lost and they can no longer push back,” Trump said during the conference. “Instead of fighting against the tide, they’re swimming with it for the first time.”
The symbolism surrounding JPMorgan’s presence at the conference was difficult to ignore. The bank — whose CEO Jamie Dimon repeatedly mocked Bitcoin in previous years and once referred to it as a “fraud” and “joke asset” — appeared at Consensus Miami as an official sponsor through its blockchain division, Kinexys.
Trump argued the shift represents a broader acknowledgment from Wall Street that crypto is no longer viewed as a fringe experiment but as a permanent part of the financial system.
He also pointed to Bank of America’s Merrill division and Charles Schwab as firms now embracing digital assets after years of skepticism and resistance.
Personal Fallout From Banking Deplatforming
Trump said his interest in crypto intensified after major financial institutions allegedly cut ties with the Trump Organization following January 6, 2021.
He claimed more than 350 Trump Organization bank accounts were closed during that period, describing the experience as proof that traditional financial infrastructure can be weaponized against individuals and businesses with little warning or recourse.
That experience, Trump said, became one of the driving motivations behind the creation of American Bitcoin Corp. (ABTC), where he serves as Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer.
“This ecosystem of Bitcoin and crypto is definitely helping the United States and the whole world,” Trump said, reiterating his long-standing prediction that Bitcoin could eventually reach $1 million per coin.
American Bitcoin Expands Despite Market Losses
Trump’s remarks came the same evening American Bitcoin released its first-quarter 2026 financial results, which showed record Bitcoin production and sharply improved mining efficiency — even as falling cryptocurrency prices pushed the company into a major quarterly loss.
The company said its core strategy remains straightforward: accumulate as much Bitcoin as possible at the lowest production cost in the industry.
American Bitcoin reported mining Bitcoin during the quarter at an average cost of roughly $36,200 per coin, a major improvement from approximately $46,900 in the fourth quarter of 2025. The company said it is effectively acquiring Bitcoin at roughly half of prevailing market prices through its mining operations.
ABTC mined 817 Bitcoin during the first quarter, the strongest quarterly production in company history, while increasing its Bitcoin reserves by roughly 30%.
The company ended March holding approximately 7,021 BTC on its balance sheet and now reportedly controls more than 7,300 Bitcoin, placing it among the world’s larger publicly traded Bitcoin holders.
American Bitcoin also disclosed that it currently operates nearly 90,000 mining machines, reflecting the growing industrial scale of large U.S.-based crypto mining operations.
Accounting Losses Overshadow Operating Gains
Despite the operational growth, the financial results themselves were more complicated.
Revenue fell to $62.1 million, down from $78.3 million in the previous quarter, largely because Bitcoin prices dropped roughly 22% during the reporting period.
The company reported a net loss of $81.8 million, or $0.08 per share, missing analyst expectations that had projected a modest profit.
However, company executives emphasized that most of the reported loss came from accounting adjustments rather than operational weakness.
American Bitcoin recorded a $117.2 million non-cash markdown tied to the declining value of its Bitcoin holdings under accounting rules. That loss was partially offset by a $37.3 million gain tied to derivatives connected to a mining equipment purchase agreement.
Even with the Bitcoin price decline, the company maintained a mining gross margin above 52%, highlighting the profitability of its underlying mining operations before accounting adjustments.
American Bitcoin CEO Mike Ho said the company remained operationally profitable during the quarter when excluding non-cash Bitcoin valuation changes. He also noted the company did not sell any Bitcoin holdings during the period despite the price decline.
Bitcoin’s Mainstream Shift Accelerates
The broader backdrop to Trump’s comments is the increasingly rapid integration of crypto into mainstream finance.
Over the last year, banks, hedge funds, pension managers, and public corporations have accelerated investments into Bitcoin infrastructure, custody services, tokenization projects, and blockchain-based payment systems following the success of spot Bitcoin ETFs and rising institutional demand.
The shift has transformed Bitcoin from a once-controversial outsider asset into an increasingly normalized part of institutional finance — even among many firms that spent years publicly criticizing the industry.
ABTC shares fell roughly 1.6% in after-hours trading Wednesday after closing the regular session up 1.63% at $1.25.
Bitcoin itself traded near $81,058 late Wednesday, down roughly 0.5% on the day.
— JBizNews Desk
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