Crypto revolution happening now, Korea leading Asia: Eric Trump
Eric Trump, son of U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during the annual blockchain conference Upbit D Conference 2025, organized by Korean cryptocurrency exchange operator Dunamu, Thursday. Yonhap
Eric Trump, the second son of U.S. President Donald Trump, said Tuesday that digital assets will soon revolutionize the world and Korea's strong involvement will help it take the lead ahead of Europe and other latecomers.
Trump made the remarks during the Upbit D Conference (UDC) 2025, an annual blockchain event hosted by Korean cryptocurrency exchange operator Dunamu, held under the theme "Blockchain to the Mainstream." He participated via teleconference.
"All of a sudden, cryptocurrency opens up a whole new world. I learned this through, honestly, the weaponization of government here in the United States and by meeting some brilliant people who wanted to transform the digital asset space," Trump said.
"I don't think there's anything in the financial world that can't be done better, cheaper, faster, safer and more transparently than what we're doing in this crypto revolution right now, and you're seeing that every single day," he said, adding that cryptocurrency is growing even faster than the internet once did.
Trump criticized traditional finance as "antiquated at a very basic level," arguing that digital assets eliminate inefficiencies, fees and other limitations of conventional systems.
Trump also emphasized the role of digital assets in promoting global financial freedom, especially in regions facing inflation and corruption, saying they offer liquidity and resilience that real estate or fiat currencies cannot match.
"Not only is it going to make life better, not only is it going to make user experience better, but it's going to give billions of people around the world financial freedom that they never had," he said. "I think Bitcoin is going to be the greatest asset of our generation."
Trump praised Korea for being a leading adopter of cryptocurrency in Asia and urged nations to embrace crypto innovation or risk falling behind.
Korea is one of the world's most vibrant crypto markets, with about one-fifth of the population, or 9.7 million people, trading digital assets.
"I think Korea is doing it the best out of any country in Asia," he said. "You have so much passion, you have so much love for the digital space. It's one of the biggest in the world. In fact, I think it's second behind the United States right now," he said.
"If I had a prediction, Europe's going to lose the crypto race, and they're going to lose the AI race," Trump said, blaming "terrible policies" and warning that countries that do not leap into the digital asset realm "are going to become extinct and fall out."
Trump emphasized that his family "loves Korea," and said they will be active "both in terms of the digital asset space and in terms of the hard real estate space, and we'll do so in a very meaningful way."
According to Bloomberg, the Trump family racked up about $1.3 billion in just a few weeks from two crypto ventures — World Liberty Financial and American Bitcoin Corp. The projects have rapidly become major sources of wealth for the family, rivaling the value of their traditional real estate holdings.