Stablecoin issuer Tether paid about USD 6.3 million through an arrangement involving a consulting firm co-owned by former White House crypto adviser Bo Hines, according to an October 15 investigation.
The first transfer came while Hines was helping advance the GENIUS Act, a law governing dollar-backed stablecoins. The timing has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest, though the firm denies he participated in its Tether business while in office.
Tether payments began before the GENIUS Act became law
The Wall Street Journal reported that Nxum, a consultancy Hines founded with his father and another partner, benefited from the payments. Hines retained a one-third ownership stake while serving as executive director of the White House digital assets council from January to August 2025. Nxum said he stepped away from operations and received no Tether-derived funds during that period.
The business relationship took shape after Nxum partners met Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino in April 2025. Marketing executive Peter Vincer arranged the introduction, and his company, Notorious, later handled the agreement. The Stablecoin issuer committed to payments of USD 415,000 per month, billed in six-month installments, under a contract set to run for at least two years.
On May 11, 2025, a USD 2.49 million installment moved through Bitfinex, an exchange affiliated with Tether. According to the investigation, Vincer kept USD 498,000 and sent the rest to a wallet linked to Nxum. Two more USD 2.49 million transfers followed in December 2025 and April 2026, after Hines left the administration. The Journal calculated Nxum’s earnings from the arrangement at roughly USD 6.3 million.
Why Bo Hines’ role in the GENIUS Act matters
While negotiating the legislation, Hines supported extending the period for crypto platforms to remove noncompliant stablecoins from 18 to 36 months, the report said. That longer timeline could benefit foreign issuers such as Tether, whose USDT stablecoin operates internationally. President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act on July 18, 2025, establishing federal requirements for stablecoin issuers and reserves.
The Journal also reviewed Signal messages in which Hines shared legislative talking points with Nxum partners during his White House tenure. Nxum said the information was already public and that those exchanges did not mean Hines was working on the company’s Tether account. The investigation did not establish that the payments changed the law or that Hines violated ethics rules.
Hines later joined Tether’s U.S. stablecoin business
Hines left the White House in August 2025 and joined Tether shortly afterward as a strategic adviser for its U.S. expansion. In September, the company named him chief executive of USAT, a separate dollar-backed stablecoin designed for the American market. The token launched in January 2026, with Anchorage Digital Bank serving as issuer.
The report also described a proposal for Tether to buy a 25% stake in Nxum for USD 56 million. Separately, a crypto-focused political action committee paid Nxum more than USD 6.5 million for advertising and related services, according to records. The White House said officials were expected to follow ethics laws, while Tether did not respond to the publication’s requests for comment.
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