Eric Trump has accused Forbes of being "acquired by China" after the magazine claimed his Bitcoin venture preys on MAGA-minded investors and has wiped out roughly $500 million in retail shareholder value since going public.
The American Bitcoin (ABTC) co-founder fired back, defending Q4 revenue of $78.3 million and a claim of holding over 7,000 Bitcoin (BTC), while branding Forbes "an embarrassment to journalism."
Forbes Calls American Bitcoin an "Arbitrage Vehicle"
A Tuesday Forbes investigation argues American Bitcoin (ABTC) is an arbitrage vehicle that sells inflated shares and pumps the proceeds into BTC.
"The president's second son pitches his bitcoin company as a money-printing machine. It's actually an arbitrage vehicle that preys on MAGA-minded investors. https://t.co/8srkbwcBJX : Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via Getty Images pic.twitter.com/6hlAgdSedP
— Forbes (@Forbes) April 28, 2026"
The piece alleges ABTC's market cap has crashed roughly 92% from a $13.2 billion peak to about $1.24 billion. Small shareholders have reportedly lost an estimated $500 million along the way.
Forbes also claims around 70% of ABTC's Bitcoin was purchased on the open market, not mined. It pegs the all-in cost per coin near $90,000 once depreciation and overhead are factored in, well above the $57,000 figure Eric Trump regularly cites.
ABTC went public via a Hut 8 merger on NASDAQ in September, but the stock price has dropped by over 90% since then.
American Bitcoin (ABTC) Stock Performance Since Nasdaq Debut. Source: TradingView
Eric Trump Counters With Q4 Numbers
Trump's reply leaned hard on operational stats. He pointed to 28 exahash of capacity, nearly 90,000 miners, and a 53% discount to spot when mining BTC.
Revenue rose 22% quarter over quarter, and the treasury now sits above 7,000 BTC, making ABTC the 16th largest public Bitcoin holder.
Top Public Companies Holding BTC. Source: Bitcoin Treasuries
" "Friends, educate yourselves as to the source of your information... in this case, China!" Trump wrote.
The "Chinese propaganda" framing mirrors a playbook recently used by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who called a Financial Times story "tabloid trash."
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has waged a similar fight against mainstream press for years.
"Complete false news from FT, with fake/wrong/made-up info and negative narratives. This is just from what I gathered on social media, I did not even read the FT article. No subscription. ‍
YZiLabs is not raising external fund. There is no demo. WTF is a demo... https://t.co/muO09pX8Bz
— CZ BNB (@cz_binance) September 23, 2025"
Notably absent from the rebuttal is any defense of the retail losses. ABTC last traded near $1.16 as of this writing, off its $14.52 debut high.
While Trump's counterattack may not suffice to steady the stock, a lot hinges on Q1 results, not on Forbes.
The post Eric Trump Brands Forbes Chinese Propaganda Over American Bitcoin Hit Piece appeared first on BeInCrypto.
