Bo Hines, a former crypto adviser to US President Donald Trump who later joined stablecoin issuer Tether, kept a stake in a company that benefited from the passage of a stablecoin bill while he was still working in the White House, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal said Hines held a one-third stake in Nxum, an investment company he co-founded, while he was pushing lawmakers to pass the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act, or the GENIUS Act. During that period, Nxum received $6.3 million as part of a deal with Tether, the company behind USDt (USDT). The report said the first payment went through while Hines was still serving in government.
According to the report, Hines remained in contact with his partners at Nxum through Signal and updated them on the progress of the GENIUS Act while serving as Trump’s crypto adviser.
The Journal also reported that Hines urged an Nxum partner to describe Republican lawmakers opposing the stablecoin bill as "undermining the president" and "bought and paid for by democratic shills like Coinbase and a16z."
Hines joined Tether as a strategic adviser in August 2025 and became CEO of its US arm the following month.
Report renews attention on conflict-of-interest claims
The reported arrangement involving a former White House official and a crypto company has brought renewed attention to accusations that Trump, members of his family and staff close to him have personally benefited from laws they helped draft and pass.
Trump disclosed earning $1.4 billion from investments tied to digital assets in 2025. That total included millions of dollars from World Liberty Financial, the family crypto company linked to the issuance of the USD1 stablecoin.
The GENIUS Act passed Congress and was signed into law in July 2025. A number of crypto executives attended the signing ceremony, including figures from stablecoin firms such as Tether and Circle. Hines was also present and was personally recognized by Trump during the event.
Although the law was signed in 2025, it still requires implementing rules from the government agencies overseeing the tokens, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department. The law is scheduled to take effect in January 2027.
Cointelegraph said it had reached out to Tether for comment on the allegations in the Journal report but had not received an immediate response.
Policymakers continue moving into crypto roles
Hines is not the only former government official to move into a digital asset role. Several figures have recently left public office to become executives or advisers at crypto-related organizations.
Summer Mersinger, a former commissioner at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, resigned three years before the scheduled end of her term to become chief executive of the crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association.
On Wednesday, Solidus Labs said Kevin Webb, a former senior counsel at the CFTC and adviser to former Commissioner Brian Quintenz, would join the fintech company as vice president of policy.
Webb was not the first former regulator to join the firm. Dawn Stump, a former CFTC commissioner, left the agency in 2022 and later joined Solidus as a strategic adviser.