Key Takeaways
- • Tether paid Nxum, a consulting firm co-owned by former White House crypto adviser Bo Hines, more than $6 million (reported as $6.3 million) beginning in May 2025, while Hines still advised the White House on crypto policy, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.
- • The Journal reported that Hines relayed legislative updates on the GENIUS Act to his Nxum partners through a Signal group chat and pushed lawmakers to extend the bill's compliance window to three years, a change that chiefly benefited Tether.
- • A Nxum representative said Hines neither knew about nor worked on the Tether business while serving in government, took no Tether-linked money then, and held only a passive investment; Tether did not respond to requests for comment.
- • Tether hired Hines as a strategic adviser 10 days after he left the White House on Aug. 9, 2025, and named him CEO of its new U.S. unit in September, placing him in charge of the business that the law he helped shape now governs.
- • Ethics experts cited by the report, including Cynthia Brown of CREW, note that federal law generally bars officials from working on matters in which they hold a financial stake; a top Senate Democrat is separately probing Tether's ties to Cantor Fitzgerald.
Summary
The Wall Street Journal reported that Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, paid approximately $6.3 million to Nxum, a consulting firm co-founded by Bo Hines with his father, Todd Hines, and marketing executive Gary Dennis. The Journal's investigation said the arrangement began in May 2025, while Hines was still working as a White House crypto adviser and finalizing the GENIUS Act stablecoin legislation. The money was split among the firm's three partners, and Hines held a one-third stake. He stepped back from daily operations but remained in the partners' Signal group chat, where he relayed legislative updates as the group dealt with Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, according to the report.
According to people involved in the talks, Hines also pushed lawmakers to double the bill's compliance window to three years, a change that chiefly benefited Tether. Dennis reportedly told an associate "Bo got it done" after Trump cut a deal with Republican holdouts in the House.
A Nxum representative told the Journal that Hines neither knew about nor worked on the Tether business while serving, took no Tether-linked money during that period, and held only a passive investment. Tether did not respond to requests for comment. Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel at the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said federal law generally bars officials from working on matters in which they hold a financial stake.
Hines announced his White House exit on Aug. 9, 2025. Tether hired him as a strategic adviser 10 days later and named him CEO of its new U.S. unit in September. The U.S. business he now runs operates under the law he helped push through Congress. A top Senate Democrat is separately probing Tether's ties to Cantor Fitzgerald.
The report also links Nxum to Fellowship, a Tether-linked super PAC. In April, Fellowship disclosed that its first expenditure, $300,000 in ads backing Georgia Republican Clay Fuller, went to Nxum. Jesse Spiro, a Tether U.S. executive, became the PAC's chairman on Apr. 1. Tether International said it has no affiliation with the group. Federal campaign rules permit such payments as long as the services are genuine.
According to people involved in the talks, Hines also pushed lawmakers to double the bill's compliance window to three years, a change that chiefly benefited Tether. Dennis reportedly told an associate "Bo got it done" after Trump cut a deal with Republican holdouts in the House.
A Nxum representative told the Journal that Hines neither knew about nor worked on the Tether business while serving, took no Tether-linked money during that period, and held only a passive investment. Tether did not respond to requests for comment. Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel at the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said federal law generally bars officials from working on matters in which they hold a financial stake.
Hines announced his White House exit on Aug. 9, 2025. Tether hired him as a strategic adviser 10 days later and named him CEO of its new U.S. unit in September. The U.S. business he now runs operates under the law he helped push through Congress. A top Senate Democrat is separately probing Tether's ties to Cantor Fitzgerald.
The report also links Nxum to Fellowship, a Tether-linked super PAC. In April, Fellowship disclosed that its first expenditure, $300,000 in ads backing Georgia Republican Clay Fuller, went to Nxum. Jesse Spiro, a Tether U.S. executive, became the PAC's chairman on Apr. 1. Tether International said it has no affiliation with the group. Federal campaign rules permit such payments as long as the services are genuine.
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