Trump family members and allies bask in crypto euphoria at Gulf bitcoin gathering

By Michelle Conlin and Federico Maccioni

NEW YORK/ABU DHABI (Reuters) -Key players in U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's new cryptocurrency venture were among high-profile industry figures gathering at a bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday, as the digital currency sets record highs.

Speakers at the two-day event include Trump's son Eric as well as billionaire Steve Witkoff, the new White House envoy for the Middle East and co-founder of World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform launched in September that Donald Trump and his family helped set up.

Attendees arriving for the Bitcoin MENA conference were greeted by displays welcoming them to the "golden age of bitcoin", alongside the live price of bitcoin, which last week smashed records when it hit $100,000, buoyed by promises from Trump that he would be the "crypto president".

Nick Damico, co-founder of crypto exchange Roxom, was there, sporting one of the "Make Bitcoin Great Again" caps on sale at the conference, which is projected to draw more than 6,000 people.

Nehayyan Aldhuhoori, another attendee, said he had "especially come" to hear from Eric Trump.

On Tuesday, Eric Trump will deliver the keynote address of the conference and then hold a "whale-only" chat in the VIP lounge, according to the event's agenda.

Witkoff spoke on Monday to that more exclusive crowd, which was closed to the press and requires a $9,999 "whale" pass, a nickname for players who have potential to move a market.

The Gulf gathering comes at an inflection point for the industry. Trump, once a skeptic, has vowed to make America the new "crypto capital of the planet." 

The president-elect is World Liberty Financial's "chief crypto advocate", and sons Eric, Don Jr. and Barron are ambassadors, according to the WLF website. Company filings show Donald Trump is entitled to 22.5 billion WLF tokens and a share of its revenue. 

"The bitcoin conference carries a lot of significance for crypto as it's one of the longest-running conferences focused on bringing our industry together," said Marshall Beard of Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by Trump backers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.   

WHITE HOUSE CRYPTO CZAR

Other speakers also have close ties to World Liberty Financial, including Justin Sun, the 32-year-old Chinese founder of blockchain platform Tron.

Three weeks after Trump won last month's U.S. presidential election, Sun posted on X that he bought $30 million worth of WLF tokens, making him the venture's largest investor. Sun was charged with crypto-related fraud and securities violations under the Biden administration. 

Last week Trump named a White House czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, former PayPal executive David Sacks, a close friend of Trump adviser and megadonor Elon Musk. 

Technology and digital asset veterans gave millions to U.S. election candidates friendly to the crypto industry, according to analytics firm Breadcrumbs. 

Trump's 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort, will also address the conference.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served a four-month U.S. prison sentence this year for crypto-tied money-laundering law violations, is holding a whale session. 

Trump, his family members, other speakers and their firms did not respond to requests for comment.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Abu DhabiEditing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Megan Davies and Susan Fenton)