Eric Trump Declares Traditional Finance ’Broken’—Crypto’s Takeover Inevitable at Token2049

Wall Street’s legacy system just got a brutal diagnosis—and the prescription is decentralized.

Speaking at Token2049, Eric Trump didn’t mince words: ’The current financial architecture is fundamentally broken, and crypto isn’t just an alternative—it’s the upgrade path.’ The remarks came as Bitcoin flirted with new institutional adoption highs.

Why it matters: When establishment scions start trashing the establishment, you know the tides are turning. Trump’s comments echo growing institutional frustration with slow settlements, opaque banking practices, and the 3-day wait to move ’your own’ money (unless you enjoy paying overdraft fees for the privilege).

The cynical take: Maybe crypto’s real killer app isn’t decentralization—it’s exposing how rent-seeking traditional finance has become. After all, when a Trump calls something ’broken,’ you know the fees must be egregious.

Modern finance risks getting left in the dust

Zach Witkoff stated that financial institutions must learn to adapt to the changing economic landscape that is becoming more and more crypto-led overtime. If they refuse, he continued, they may risk getting left behind.

“I think time will tell, you know, which choice they make, but hopefully they’re on the right side of history,” said Witkoff.

Eric Trump believes it will be difficult for major financial institutions to switch gears and embrace crypto, mostly due to how their entire business model is built on the old-fashioned mechanisms that get erased by crypto.

“If the banks don’t embrace this, if they don’t buy into it, if they don’t embrace crypto right now, they’re just going to be extinct because you’re actually eliminating the function,” said Trump.

In terms of technological advancement, he observed that crypto is advancing by at least “100 times as fast as these big banks.” Not only that, it has also become a lot more accessible for unbanked populations.

“What crypto really does is bring an even playing field to the globe. If you don’t have access to Jamie Dimon, if you don’t have access to the biggest financial institutions, congratulations you have your phone,” said Trump.