"South Korea's virtual asset industry is the best in Asia"…Trump's younger son 'thumbs up'

Attended Upbit conference via video

"Bitcoin is the greatest asset

A gift of financial freedom to billions"

Eric Trump, the younger son of U.S. President Donald Trump and Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, on the 9th said that South Korea's virtual asset industry "is doing better than any country in Asia." He cited political pressure as the reason the Trump family has taken an interest in virtual assets.

Trump, at the 'Upbit D Conference 2025' held that day at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Samseong-dong, Seoul, responded this way to a question from Yoon Seon-ju, Dunamu's Chief Brand Impact Officer (CBIO), asking, "If the United States becomes the world's capital of virtual assets, can Korea become the capital of Asia?" Trump spoke with CBIO Yoon via video link.

Trump said, "Big banks will fall behind virtual asset exchanges if they do not embrace digital assets," and argued, "You can go to a supermarket anytime, but you can't do that with bank transfers, which makes no sense." He added, "In the U.S., you have to wait 90~150 days to get a mortgage," and said, "Traditional finance is too outdated, and my father (President Trump) recognized that."

Regarding Bitcoin, he said, "It will be the greatest asset of our generation and a great store of value," and "It will provide billions of people with a financial freedom they have never had."

Trump said, regarding why President Trump has focused on the virtual asset market, "(After President Trump lost the election) banks around the world, including in the U.S., tried to strip us of our accounts because of political pressure," and "With no choice, we began to look at alternative financial means and fell in love with digital assets." He added, "Virtual assets cannot be weaponized politically." He said, "The U.S. is leading the digital asset industry," and "because there is a president and cabinet who believe in and understand it." He added, "I recommend watching what the U.S. does and actively jumping in."

About Europe, he said, "It will lose on both the digital asset and artificial intelligence (AI) fronts," and criticized, "Europe's power supply is a mess and it relies on wind power, which is terribly inefficient."

Mi-hyun Cho reporter mwise@hankyung.com