Trump's second son who appeared at the Upbit D Conference "Korea leads Asia's virtual asset industry" [Comprehensive]

Upbit D Conference 2025

"Traditional finance is too old…my father realized it early too"

"If global large banks do not accept digital assets,

they will inevitably fall behind Upbit and Coinbase"

"Korea leads the virtual asset (digital asset) industry better than any Asian country."

Eric Trump, the second son of U.S. President Donald Trump, evaluated Korea's virtual asset industry level this way at the 'Upbit D Conference (UDC) 2025' held on the 9th at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas Hotel in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. It was his answer to a question in a discussion with Yoon Seon-ju, Dunamu's Chief Brand Impact Officer (CBIO), who joined via video call, asking, "If the U.S. becomes the world's virtual asset capital, can Korea become the capital of Asia?" UDC is Korea's representative blockchain event hosted annually by Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, since 2018.

Eric Trump: "The U.S. leads the virtual asset industry…Korea should actively step forward too"

Eric Trump said, "The U.S. leads the digital asset market because it has a president and a cabinet that believe in and understand the industry," and added, "If you stand still, you'll fall behind and become extinct." He also urged, "I encourage (Korea) to actively jump in after seeing what the U.S. is doing."

He specifically predicted that Europe would lose in both digital asset and artificial intelligence (AI) competition. Explaining the reason, he said, "Their power supply is a mess," and added, "They rely on wind power, which is extremely inefficient."

Eric Trump said, "Bitcoin will be the greatest asset of our generation and an excellent store of value," and stated, "It will provide billions of people with financial freedom they have never had."

He also expressed pessimism about traditional financial mechanisms. He said, "If big banks do not accept digital assets, they will fall behind platforms like Korea's Upbit as well as Coinbase and Binance," and added, "You can always go to a supermarket, but bank transfers not being able to do that makes no sense. Traditional finance is too old, and my father (President Trump) realized that fact too."

Eric, the president's second son, and his eldest son Donald Trump Jr. established the virtual asset platform 'World Liberty Financial' (WLF) last September and issued a Trump meme coin.

Oh Kyung-seok, Dunamu CEO: "We will create a 'K-Finance model' that expands globally"

Oh Kyung-seok, Dunamu's CEO, took the stage at the event and unveiled Dunamu's blueprint for global market expansion. It was the first time Oh appeared at an official event since his appointment. Oh was newly appointed in June, succeeding former CEO Lee Seok-woo.

Oh cited past examples like Amazon and Bitcoin, saying, "New technologies always appear under the stigma of speculation and bubbles, but over time they become the basis of daily life like railways, electricity, and the internet," and added, "We need to view blockchain not as a bubble but as an 'evolution.'"

He continued, "In the internet and AI revolutions, we have been on the defensive against global big tech companies originating from the U.S., but in the blockchain revolution, we can leverage our strengths to lead the global market from Korea."

Oh said, "The key to early stablecoin activation is distribution through digital asset exchanges. Upbit recorded spot trading volume of 1,740 trillion won last year, making it the No.1 exchange domestically and among the top four globally in trading volume," and added, "If Upbit supports the distribution of won-denominated stablecoins, it could be a golden opportunity for K-Finance to expand from Asia to the world."

He also said, "If there is policy support to enable digital asset-related businesses possible in Korea as they are in the U.S., we can compete proudly as national representatives," and added, "We are now in an era of designing trust, not money. We will create a 'K-Finance model' that starts in Korea, expands beyond Asia, and goes global."

On the day, Dunamu also introduced its own Web3 infrastructure project 'Giwa' (KIWA). Song Won-jun, Dunamu's Crypto Product Lead, said, "Giwa is a new Web3 standard proposed globally starting from Korea."

The company particularly introduced 'Giwa' as the result of various blockchain experiments it had previously attempted. It is an Optimistic Rollup-based Layer-2 mainnet with strengths in short block times and low fees. It also includes an 'on-chain verify' function for institutional service entry. Additionally, Upbit provides asset and price data as an oracle, enabling connection to financial services.

A competitive advantage is that it has secured ecosystem liquidity. Upbit's 12 million users, 80 trillion won in assets under custody, and 3.8 trillion won in staking assets are directly linked to the Giwa ecosystem, the company explained.

Shin Min-kyung, Hankyung.com reporter radio@hankyung.com