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ABTC fell 38.83% on Dec. 2 as 11 million shares from a June 2025 private placement unlocked
SEC filings show 180-day lockup expires March 3, 2026; 12-month lockup expires Sept. 3, 2026
Analyst Brian Dobson warns investors to watch upcoming 2026 equity unlocks
Dec. 3 (Crypto-News.Net) – American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC) faces two more waves of potential selling pressure in 2026 after Tuesday’s ABTC lockup expiry triggered a 38.83% stock decline, with SEC filings showing unlock dates in March and September.
Shares from a private placement of 11,002,954 shares completed in June 2025 became freely tradable on Dec. 2, Bloomberg reported. The Bitcoin mining company’s stock fell from $3.58 to $2.19, triggering multiple Nasdaq trading halts before recovering to $2.49 in after-hours trading.
Eric Trump, co-founder and chief strategy officer, confirmed the unlock in a post on X. “Today our pre-merger private placement shares unlocked — these early investors are freely available to cash in on their profits for the first time which is why we will see volatility,” Trump said.
Trading volume reached 87.5 million shares, roughly 23 times the three-month average of 3.8 million, according to Google Finance data. The stock fell to an intraday low of $1.74, a decline of more than 50% from the previous close, before recovering by session end. The drop occurred as Bitcoin (BTC) recovered above $91,000, highlighting ABTC-specific selling pressure. Parent company Hut 8 Corp (HUT) fell approximately 12%.
Three-Tier Lockup Structure
Tuesday’s selloff represented the first of three lockup expirations. Two larger unlock events remain on the calendar for 2026, according to the Investors’ Rights Agreement filed with the SEC.
The 11 million shares that unlocked Dec. 2 came from a private placement completed before American Bitcoin merged with Gryphon Digital Mining on Sept. 3, 2025.
A second tier covering Dominari Holdings Inc. and most historical ABTC shareholders expires on March 3, 2026, under a 180-day lockup provision in Section 3.10 of the Investors’ Rights Agreement.
The third tier, a 12-month lockup covering general ABTC Investors including Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., expires on Sept. 3, 2026, per the Form 8-K filed September 3, 2025. The Trump brothers face additional standstill provisions on competitive activities running until March 31, 2028.
Brian Dobson, managing director at Clear Street, told Bloomberg that investors would likely pay close attention to upcoming lockup expirations in 2026.
Ownership and Holdings
Hut 8 Corp owns 80% of American Bitcoin Corp, with Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and legacy shareholders holding the remaining 20%.
Eric Trump personally holds 68.147 million shares, worth approximately $149 million at the Dec. 2 closing price, according to SEC filings. Trump stated he is retaining his entire stake. “I’m holding all my ABTC shares — I’m 100% committed to leading the industry,” he said in the same X post.
Company Performance
American Bitcoin Corp reported $64.2 million in revenue and $3.5 million in net income for the third quarter of 2025, compared to $11.6 million in revenue and a $0.6 million loss in the same period last year. The company held 3,418 BTC at the end of the third quarter and has since increased holdings to 4,004 BTC according to Bitcointreasuries.net. The firm operates at a mining hashrate of 25.0 EH/s with gross margins of 56%.
Reporting and editing by Zoran Spirkovski
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