Eric Trump, the second son of US President Donald Trump, on Tuesday hailed South Korea as the frontrunner in Asia’s cryptocurrency market and advised the country to adopt a more aggressive stance on digital assets.
In a video presentation at the Upbit D Conference (UDC) 2025, he said South Korea is doing the best job among Asian countries in the virtual asset space, asked about whether he sees the country as a potential digital asset hub for the region, while the US leads the global market
UDC is an international blockchain conference hosted annually by Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit.
The junior Trump said in the presentation that Bitcoin will be the greatest asset and an exceptional store of value for this generation, offering financial freedom to several billions of people who have never experienced it before.
Eric Trump (Screenshot captured from his Facebook)
The co-founder and chief strategic officer of American Bitcoin Corp., a bitcoin mining company, said his family “fell in love with digital assets,” when exploring alternatives to traditional financial system after President Trump lost the election in 2020.
He noted that traditional financial services are outdated, a view shared by his father and traditional banks risk falling behind leading digital asset platforms such as Upbit, US-based Coinbase and Binance, unless they embrace cryptocurrencies.
Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency agency.
EUROPE’S ROLE
In the race for digital asset and artificial intelligence supremacy, he played down Europe’s role, citing its unreliable power infrastructure, which relies heavily on wind power that he describes as inefficient.
Oh Kyungsuk, chief executive of Dunamu, said in his opening speech at the UDC 2025 that South Korea’s financial services could expand globally beyond Asia, if Dunamu is granted authority to distribute Korean won-denominated stablecoins.
South Korea has not yet adopted stablecoins pegged to its local currency.
Oh noted that Upbit is barred from offering derivates trading services and that its services are restricted to domestic users.
The Trump World buildings owned by the Trump Organization in Yeouido, Seoul (Courtesy of Haeahn Architecture)
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Meanwhile, the Trump family is looking to expand its investment portfolio in South Korea’s real estate sector, said the junior Trump, who also serves as executive vice president of development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization, a real estate company.
The family already owns six buildings in Seoul.
Write to Yeonhee Kim at yhkim@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.