Bloomberg Businessweek — Episode Summary

Title: Bitcoin Sinks Deeper Below $100,000 as Bear Market Grips Crypto
Date: November 13, 2025
Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec
Featured Guest: Eric Trump, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer of American Bitcoin; Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization
Additional Guest: Elizabeth Renter, Senior Economist at NerdWallet
Topic: Crypto market turbulence, Bitcoin mining, U.S. energy policy, macroeconomic data post-government shutdown, and Disney’s succession planning.

Episode Overview

This episode dives into recent turbulence in the cryptocurrency markets, with a particular focus on Bitcoin's price slump, the evolving strategies of leading crypto miners, and U.S. energy policy as it relates to mining profitability. Featuring an extended and heated interview with Eric Trump, the show explores American Bitcoin’s approach to weathering the bear market, debates on energy costs and regulation, and reflections on Bitcoin’s long-term appeal versus traditional assets. Additionally, the episode covers shifting macroeconomic conditions following a U.S. government shutdown and includes a timely discussion on Disney's leadership transition.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. State of the Crypto Market and American Bitcoin’s Strategy

• Crypto IPO Activity: Grayscale Investments filed for an IPO, signaling continued institutional interest despite the downturn.

  • [01:45]

• American Bitcoin’s Mining Edge:

  • Mining Versus Buying: Eric Trump emphasizes that American Bitcoin prioritizes increasing “bitcoin per share” for shareholders, not just tracking spot price.

    "Our entire ethos is increasing bitcoin per share ... we're mining at roughly 50% of spot prices … about $56,000 per bitcoin." — Eric Trump [02:41]

  • Production Scale & Growth: The company has rapidly climbed to become the 25th largest BTC public treasury, with over 4,000 bitcoins mined or accumulated within three months of being publicly listed.

    "We're already well surpassed 4,000 bitcoin ... making us the 25th largest BTC public treasury company in the world … and we're climbing that ladder very quickly every single day." — Eric Trump [03:37]

• Energy Sourcing for Mining:

  • American Bitcoin utilizes renewable energy, primarily wind, with contracts for cheap power from otherwise idle sources in Texas.

    "There was a defunct wind farm ... locked into a very cheap contract for a very long period of time." — Eric Trump [04:37]

  • Trump anticipates diversification into new energy sources as part of an ongoing “energy revolution.”

2. Energy Policy, Costs, and Political Tensions

• Debate on U.S. Energy Policies:

  • The conversation becomes contentious as energy costs and political attribution to rising prices are discussed. Eric Trump defends his father's and the previous administration’s policies:

    "There was a war on energy in this country the likes of which you've never seen before ... We went from being energy independent under my father ... to being energy dependent under Joe Biden." — Eric Trump [06:21]

  • Hosts challenge the assertion, citing data from their research and noting higher electricity prices due to AI data centers and regional variations.

    “Electricity costs depend far more on where you're located. And a lot of it has to do with the AI buildout…” — Carol Massar [05:43]

• Economic Growth & National Power:

  • Trump argues that prosperity is tightly linked to low energy costs and American energy dominance is crucial for technological leadership.

    "The lower your energy costs are ... the higher your GDP costs are. We have to win the war on cryptocurrency. We have to win the war on AI." — Eric Trump [06:21]

3. Bitcoin Mining vs. Pivoting to AI and Compute

• Industry Trend: Other miners like Bitfarms are shifting toward AI-related infrastructure as mining margins fall.
• American Bitcoin’s Stance:
  • Trump is unwavering about mining profitability and the long-term performance of Bitcoin relative to other assets:

    "We're only going to ramp up ... Bitcoin has been probably the highest performing asset of the last decade." — Eric Trump [09:17, 10:14]

  • He believes volatility is “our friend” and an integral part of crypto investing.

4. Bitcoin vs. Real Assets, Flight to Safety, and Ownership

• Asset Preference & Global Perspective:

  • Given his real estate background, Trump says Bitcoin provides unmatched resilience, especially in countries with unstable governments:

    "If you lived in ... South America or ... African countries ... where government can come in at any time and steal your house ... you don't have that problem with bitcoin." — Eric Trump [13:33]

  • Shares personal experience of being “debanked” and touts Bitcoin’s immunity from third-party cancellation:

    "All of that got pulled out from under me ... The interesting thing about crypto, ... digital wallets: you can't cancel them. You can't take them away." — Eric Trump [13:33]

• Capped Supply vs. Gold:

  • Trump highlights Bitcoin’s 21 million coin limit as a unique inflation hedge unavailable with gold:

    "With bitcoin, you have cap supply ... think about something that's transferable 24 hours a day, seven days a week ... that's global." — Eric Trump [11:38]

5. Alleged Political Edge and Regulatory Questions

• Proximity to Power:
  • Hosts probe whether proximity to the White House provides any market advantage for American Bitcoin.

    "Do you feel like you guys [have] an advantage because of your proximity to the White House?" — Carol Massar [15:24]

  • Trump dismisses the idea of political privilege and attributes their advantage to mining efficiency:

    "My advantages ... we can mine Bitcoin at 50 cents on the dollar ... I have absolutely nothing to do with the federal government. I want nothing to do with the federal government when it comes to crypto policy." — Eric Trump [16:03, 17:20]

6. Future Vision for American Bitcoin

• Ambition: Trump wants the company to become a leading U.S.-based Bitcoin miner and treasury, emphasizing growth, efficiency, and leadership in the digital financial revolution:

  "We're going to create one of the great bitcoin companies anywhere in America ... I think we're doing it here in the United States of America. I think that's philanthropic to this country." — Eric Trump [20:18]

7. U.S. Macroeconomic Data in the Wake of a Government Shutdown

• Data Gaps & Labor Market:

  • Elizabeth Renter describes how the lack of fresh government data post-shutdown forces reliance on private sources, each with caveats.

    "It's tough to make sense of what's going on in the economy ... we're looking at private data sources and trying to infer what the BLS would have said." — Elizabeth Renter [25:36]

• Current Conditions:

  • Labor market is “solid, but gradually cooling,” with unemployment in the 4–4.5% range; inflation is “high, but not accelerating rapidly.”

    “The unemployment rate remains in that four, four and a half percent range. So, not alarming ... inflation is steadily high, but not accelerating right now.” — Elizabeth Renter [27:09, 28:03]

• Enduring Price Pressures:

  • Renter notes “several sources of inflationary pressure,” including tariffs and service demand, and points out heightened consumer sensitivity after recent inflation spikes.

    "We're all hyper attuned to it ... so because inflation is higher than we like, it's going to be particularly painful." — Elizabeth Renter [29:02]

• Fed Policy and Independence:

  • While political risk to Federal Reserve independence is higher than in past years, Renter expresses faith in the institution's core independence.

    "I do have pretty deep faith in the independence of the Fed ... But I do think we have higher risks now than we did, say, a couple years ago." — Elizabeth Renter [30:12]

8. Disney Earnings and CEO Succession

• Earnings Recap and Outlook:

  • Disney’s Q1 guidance is notably soft, spooking investors and pushing share prices down.

    "Fiscal 1Q looks really soft, which means everything is going to get pushed to the back half of fiscal 2026." — Geeta Ranganathan, Bloomberg Intelligence [37:37]

• Leadership Transition:

  • Disney is expected to name Bob Iger's successor by March 2026, with top candidates including Dana Walden (creative/entertainment) and Josh D’Amaro (Parks).
  • There’s speculation about a potential co-CEO model.

    “You need to be able to have a lot of charisma ... but at the same time ... you have to kind of be an operations geek ... I really wonder whether they actually need to have a co-CEO structure.” — Geeta Ranganathan [40:15]

• Core Business Outlook:

  • Parks and streaming are set to remain primary drivers of earnings; spinoff of linear TV possible, but not urgent.

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• Eric Trump on Mining Efficiency:

  “We’re mining Bitcoin at roughly 50% of spot prices of bitcoin. … That’s the ultimate metric that we chase every single day.” — [02:41]

• Eric Trump (on asset safety):

  “If you lived in ... South America ... where government can come in at any time and steal your house ... you don't have that problem with bitcoin.” — [13:33]

• Eric Trump (on being 'debanked'):

  “All of that got pulled out from under me ... the interesting thing about crypto ... you can't take them away.” — [13:33]

• Carol Massar (on energy costs):

  “Electricity costs depend far more on where you’re located. And a lot of it has to do with the AI buildout …” — [05:43]

• Elizabeth Renter (on inflation):

  “Inflation is steadily high, but not accelerating right now ... expectations are in alignment ... inflation is going to remain above that target but then come down in the long term.” — [28:03]

• Geeta Ranganathan (on Disney succession):

  “You need to be able to have a lot of charisma ... but at the same time ... you have to kind of be an operations geek ... I really wonder whether they actually need to have a co-CEO structure.” — [40:15]

Useful Timestamps

• [02:41] — Eric Trump on American Bitcoin’s edge and mining strategy
• [04:37] — Renewable energy sourcing for mining
• [06:21] — Political debate on U.S. energy independence/costs
• [09:17] — American Bitcoin’s stance on mining versus AI computing pivot
• [13:33] — Bitcoin vs. real estate, global asset safety
• [15:24] — Discussion on political advantages for American Bitcoin
• [20:18] — Five-year vision for American Bitcoin
• [25:36] — Elizabeth Renter on post-shutdown economic data
• [27:09] — Labor market and inflation snapshot
• [37:37] — Disney Q1 outlook and CEO succession

Tone & Language

• The conversation is lively, occasionally heated—especially around political attributions to energy policy and mining economics—reflecting both Eric Trump’s forceful, sometimes combative style and the hosts’ data-driven, inquisitive approach.
• Technical yet accessible, balancing market and policy insights with anecdotes and personal convictions from the guest.

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode is a must for anyone interested in the intersection of crypto, energy economics, and policy, or in understanding executive strategy during intense market downturns. Eric Trump provides a candid, bullish case for Bitcoin, details American Bitcoin’s unique approach to mining and market volatility, and directly addresses regulatory and political speculation. The episode also briefly navigates broader economic uncertainties—and offers a look ahead at Disney’s future leadership as a case study in corporate transformation.