Trump specifically pointed out a 35% gain since his post and told followers to “embrace volatility.” Despite a steep drop after his endorsement, ETH has recovered and is now up around 12% year-to-date.Overall, Trump family crypto ventures—including $2 billion in BTC holdings by Trump Media and a $220M Bitcoin fund by Eric and Donald Jr.—have reportedly boosted Donald Trump’s fortune by over $620M. Ethereum also drew attention from Andrew Keys of The Ether Machine, who claimed ETH massively outperformed Bitcoin long-term. He also predicted a possible rise to $8,000 by 2026.
Eric Trump Claps Back
Eric Trump took to social media on Monday to celebrate Ethereum’s strong resurgence above the $3,800 mark. He also responded to critics who mocked his earlier support for the cryptocurrency.
His comments were mainly directed at Ted Pillows, a partner at crypto exchange OKX, who ridiculed Trump in April after Ethereum experienced a steep drop in February and March. Quoting Pillows' old post, Eric wrote, “How am I doing now @TedPillows?” and followed up with a confident message to another user, boasting a 35% gain in five months and encouraging them to “embrace volatility.” He also reiterated that smart investors would have bought the dips, just as he advised people to do at the time.
Eric Trump’s claim isn’t without merit. ETH was trading around $2,877 on Feb. 4 when Trump publicly backed the asset. On Monday, however, ETH was sitting at $3,732, which is an unrealized gain of approximately 30% for those who followed his lead. On the other hand, it wasn’t a smooth ride.
Ethereum plunged by almost 49% in the weeks after his post before recovering. Despite the ups and downs, Ethereum is now up roughly 12% year-to-date.
Looking ahead, analyst Gert van Lagen sees more potential for Ethereum. He recently mentioned that ETH’s current market structure closely mirrors that of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1980. Based on this comparison, he forecasted a possible climb to $8,000 by early 2026. This could mean that the cryptocurrency may still be in the midst of a long-term bullish trend.
The Trump family’s involvement in crypto goes far beyond tweets. Trump Media and Technology Group, which operates the Truth Social platform, recently revealed it holds $2 billion in Bitcoin and Bitcoin-related securities. Meanwhile, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are listed as founders of American Bitcoin, a company that raised $220 million from institutional investors to buy Bitcoin and mining equipment.
TMTG press release
All three Trump sons are also co-founders of World Liberty Financial, with President Donald Trump himself serving as co-founder emeritus. Altogether, these crypto-related ventures reportedly boosted Trump’s personal fortune by at least $620 million in just a few months.
Ethereum Outshines Bitcoin?
Andrew Keys, co-founder and chairman of Ethereum-focused investment firm The Ether Machine, also believes investors would have greatly outperformed Bitcoin holders if they invested in ETH over the past decade.
On CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday, Keys initially claimed Ethereum would have made investors 50 times wealthier than Bitcoin but later corrected the figure to 30 times in a follow-up post on X. His firm, The Ether Machine, plans to go public and is set to become the largest institutional Ethereum investment vehicle, launching with more than 400,000 ETH—currently valued at about $1.5 billion. This would surpass the ETH holdings of existing firms like Bitmine and SharpLink.
Keys described himself as an “Ethereum guy” and admitted to not owning any Bitcoin. He even compared Bitcoin to a landline and Ethereum to an iPhone, due to his belief in Ethereum's broader utility and innovation. He also argued that Ethereum is the primary beneficiary of the recently passed GENIUS Act, as the majority of stablecoins are deployed on the Ethereum network. He compared Ethereum’s dominance in tokenization to Google’s dominance in web search, as 90% of tokenized assets reside on Ethereum, just as Google handles 90% of internet searches.
Despite Keys’ optimism and Ethereum’s impressive returns since its inception, some critics have pointed out that comparing Ethereum and Bitcoin on equal footing overlooks their different launch timelines. Bitcoin began trading in 2010 and gained over 234 million percent from its early days, while Ethereum launched in mid-2015 and has risen by more than 236,000%. Additionally, Ethereum is still down 24% from its all-time high in 2021, while Bitcoin recently hit a new peak in July.
ETH’s all-time price action (Source: CoinMarketCap)
The Ether Machine is expected to go public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company Dynamix Corporation. The combined firm will trade on the Nasdaq and plans to provide large-scale institutional exposure to Ethereum. According to BTSE COO Jeff Mei, investors are already rotating heavily into Ethereum, helping to fuel its recent rally.
