Senate Democrat probes reported Tether payments to Bo Hines-linked firm

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has opened another inquiry tied to Tether, this time focusing on reported payments to Nxum Group, a firm co-founded by former White House crypto adviser Bo Hines. According to The Wall Street Journal, Nxum received large consulting payments from Tether while Hines was still advising President Donald Trump and his administration on crypto policy, including matters involving stablecoin issuers important to Tether. Blumenthal sent letters Thursday to both Tether and Nxum seeking details of those arrangements and said the relationship raised serious ethical and legal concerns. The senator argued in a letter to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino that the company likely understood the impropriety of paying a sitting White House official who had a direct role in shaping cryptocurrency legislation relevant to its business. The move adds to Blumenthal’s broader scrutiny of crypto, which has also covered Trump’s memecoin, World Liberty Financial, Binance, Tether’s reported financial links to Iran, and its relationship with Cantor Fitzgerald. Tether did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Ardoino separately criticized Blumenthal this week over how the senator handled an earlier report.