Eric Trump warns banks must embrace crypto or face extinction

Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organiation and son of US President Donald Trump, has issued a warning to global banks about the urgent need to adopt cryptocurrency. 

“The modern financial system is broken, it’s slow, it’s expensive,” stated Trump in a CNBC interview on April 30, adding that the current banking system “favors the ultra-wealthy.”

“It forced me into the crypto world,” he explained, predicting, “if the banks don’t watch what’s coming, they’re going to be extinct in 10 years.”

Trump criticised the SWIFT network for international payments, calling it an absolute disaster.

“There’s nothing that can be done on blockchain that can’t be done better than the way that the current financial institutions are working,” he argued.

“You can open up a DeFi app right now, you can open up any cryptocurrency app, and you can send money, wallet to wallet, instantaneously, without the expense, without the variability,” he highlighted.

Trump’s comments come as many global banks continue to resist cryptocurrency adoption, even as industry executives remain optimistic about banks moving toward crypto in 2025. 

He also reiterated his previous prediction from December 2024 that Bitcoin could reach $1 million per coin and that global governments and institutions would have to adopt the cryptocurrency to remain competitive. 

Recently, Trump promoted USD1, a stablecoin backed by the Trump family and running on the BNB Chain, which is designed to maintain a 1:1 peg to the US dollar with full backing by short-term US government treasuries, dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents. 

His latest statements add to the ongoing debate about the future of banks and digital assets, as well as controversy over the Trump family’s alleged connections to Binance. 

According to Eric Trump, banks that fail to adapt to the rise of crypto could become obsolete within the next decade.