Key Takeaways
- • A Wall Street Journal investigation links Tether to about $6.3 million in payments to Nxum, a consulting firm co-owned by Bo Hines, who held a one-third stake while serving on the White House digital assets council from January to August 2025.
- • Payments began in May 2025, months before Hines left government, and were routed through Notorious, a marketing firm run by Peter Vincer, at $415,000 per month.
- • Nxum denies wrongdoing and says Hines received no Tether-derived funds and had no economic relationship with Tether while in the White House; no available account says Hines personally was paid.
- • Nxum received $6.55 million from Fellowship PAC, a pro-crypto committee chaired by Tether's head of government affairs Jesse Spiro, between January and April 2026.
- • The GENIUS Act's foreign-issuer pathway depends on a Treasury determination that has not been issued as of August 2026, while federal agencies have missed their July deadline for required rules.
Summary
A Wall Street Journal investigation has linked Tether to about $6.3 million in payments to Nxum, a small consulting firm co-owned by Bo Hines while he ran the White House's digital assets council and helped shape the GENIUS Act. According to the Journal, Hines held a one-third stake in Nxum for his entire time in government, from January to August 2025. The payments began in May 2025, months before he left. Hines later joined Tether, first as a strategic adviser, and now runs USAT, the company's US-regulated stablecoin.
Nxum did not contract with Tether directly. The contract went to Notorious, a marketing firm run by Peter Vincer, at $415,000 a month, billed six months at a time over at least two years. The Journal reported that the arrangement began taking shape in April 2025, when Hines's father and another Nxum partner met Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino in New York, a meeting Vincer arranged. Vincer's proposal covered public relations, branding and lobbying, but the final contract dropped the lobbying language. The first payment, $2.49 million, left Bitfinex on May 11, 2025. Vincer kept $498,000 and forwarded the remainder to a wallet tied to Nxum. Two further transfers of the same size arrived in December 2025 and April 2026, after Hines had left government. Net of the intermediary's cut, the Journal calculated that Nxum received roughly $6.3 million.
The payments intersect with the GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18, 2025, which created the first federal framework for dollar-backed stablecoins. The Journal reported that Hines pushed to extend the compliance window from a proposed 18 months to 36 months. The longer window benefited foreign issuers, including Tether, which is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. The law also includes a pathway for foreign issuers under approved regulatory jurisdictions, conditional on a Treasury determination that the issuer's home jurisdiction offers comparable oversight. As of August 2026, the Treasury had not issued that determination. Restrictions on US platforms offering noncompliant stablecoins are scheduled to apply in July 2028.
Nxum told the Journal that Hines was unaware of and uninvolved in its Tether business while in the White House, and that he 'did not receive any Tether-derived funds during that period.' The firm describes his stake as passive and says ethics rules did not require him to sell it. Tether did not respond to requests for comment. Vincer told the Journal he served only as an intermediary and disputed the amount he ultimately received, an account Nxum rejected. Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the Journal that federal officials generally face restrictions on taking part in government matters involving their financial interests.
Separately, Nxum was involved in the September 2025 launch of Fellowship PAC, a pro-crypto political action committee chaired by Jesse Spiro, Tether's head of government affairs. Federal Election Commission records cited by the Journal show the committee paid Nxum Group $6.55 million across five disbursements between January and April 2026, mostly for issue advocacy advertising. The PAC had raised at least $11 million from Cantor Fitzgerald and other contributors. An investor presentation reviewed by the Journal described plans for Tether to buy 25% of Nxum for $56 million, with another 10% sold to outside investors and the founders retaining 65%.
Regulators are still working through implementation. An August 2026 review found federal agencies had missed their July deadline for required rules, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is targeting November 2026 to finalize its framework. The Federal Reserve has released two proposals on reserve requirements and bank-issuer licensing. The CLARITY Act, a follow-on bill, stalled in the Senate in September 2026. Separately, Sen. Richard Blumenthal urged Treasury and the Justice Department to investigate Tether last month, following a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report on Iran's use of USDT.
Nxum did not contract with Tether directly. The contract went to Notorious, a marketing firm run by Peter Vincer, at $415,000 a month, billed six months at a time over at least two years. The Journal reported that the arrangement began taking shape in April 2025, when Hines's father and another Nxum partner met Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino in New York, a meeting Vincer arranged. Vincer's proposal covered public relations, branding and lobbying, but the final contract dropped the lobbying language. The first payment, $2.49 million, left Bitfinex on May 11, 2025. Vincer kept $498,000 and forwarded the remainder to a wallet tied to Nxum. Two further transfers of the same size arrived in December 2025 and April 2026, after Hines had left government. Net of the intermediary's cut, the Journal calculated that Nxum received roughly $6.3 million.
The payments intersect with the GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18, 2025, which created the first federal framework for dollar-backed stablecoins. The Journal reported that Hines pushed to extend the compliance window from a proposed 18 months to 36 months. The longer window benefited foreign issuers, including Tether, which is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. The law also includes a pathway for foreign issuers under approved regulatory jurisdictions, conditional on a Treasury determination that the issuer's home jurisdiction offers comparable oversight. As of August 2026, the Treasury had not issued that determination. Restrictions on US platforms offering noncompliant stablecoins are scheduled to apply in July 2028.
Nxum told the Journal that Hines was unaware of and uninvolved in its Tether business while in the White House, and that he 'did not receive any Tether-derived funds during that period.' The firm describes his stake as passive and says ethics rules did not require him to sell it. Tether did not respond to requests for comment. Vincer told the Journal he served only as an intermediary and disputed the amount he ultimately received, an account Nxum rejected. Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the Journal that federal officials generally face restrictions on taking part in government matters involving their financial interests.
Separately, Nxum was involved in the September 2025 launch of Fellowship PAC, a pro-crypto political action committee chaired by Jesse Spiro, Tether's head of government affairs. Federal Election Commission records cited by the Journal show the committee paid Nxum Group $6.55 million across five disbursements between January and April 2026, mostly for issue advocacy advertising. The PAC had raised at least $11 million from Cantor Fitzgerald and other contributors. An investor presentation reviewed by the Journal described plans for Tether to buy 25% of Nxum for $56 million, with another 10% sold to outside investors and the founders retaining 65%.
Regulators are still working through implementation. An August 2026 review found federal agencies had missed their July deadline for required rules, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is targeting November 2026 to finalize its framework. The Federal Reserve has released two proposals on reserve requirements and bank-issuer licensing. The CLARITY Act, a follow-on bill, stalled in the Senate in September 2026. Separately, Sen. Richard Blumenthal urged Treasury and the Justice Department to investigate Tether last month, following a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report on Iran's use of USDT.
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