Senator Richard Blumenthal is pressing Tether for records on a reported multimillion-dollar consulting arrangement with a firm co-founded by Bo Hines, the former executive director of the White House Council of Advisers for Digital Assets.

In an Oct. 22 letter to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, Blumenthal asked the stablecoin issuer to hand over documents describing its relationship with Nxum, the consulting firm Hines co-founded. The request followed a Wall Street Journal investigation reporting that the company allegedly received approximately $6.3 million from Tether while Hines helped shape crypto policy for President Donald Trump. The request puts a public spotlight on the boundary between federal policymaking and paid advocacy in the digital-assets sector.

According to the Journal, Tether agreed in May 2025 to pay Nxum $415,000 per month for strategic communications, lobbying, and public relations work. Hines held a one-third ownership stake in the firm during his tenure as executive director of the White House Council of Advisers for Digital Assets.

Payments Routed Through an Intermediary

Blumenthal alleged that Hines coordinated with Nxum over encrypted messaging applications while pushing for provisions in the GENIUS Act, the landmark stablecoin legislation signed into law in July 2025. Those provisions reportedly included extending compliance deadlines and granting foreign stablecoin issuers such as Tether greater flexibility to continue serving American customers.

The senator also flagged Tether's payment structure as unusual. Instead of contracting with Nxum directly, Tether allegedly sent cryptocurrency payments through a separate marketing firm, Notorious, which then distributed the funds to Nxum's owners. Only after Hines left the White House in August 2025 did Tether begin contracting directly with Nxum, and it subsequently hired Hines to lead its newly established U.S. operations.

"The highly unusual terms and of Tether's business relationship with both Nxum and Bo Hines raise alarming ethical and legal concerns," Blumenthal wrote.

The Journal reported that representatives for Hines denied he knew about or participated in the Tether deal while he served in government. Blumenthal also cited reports that Nxum has solicited additional investment by claiming Tether intends to purchase a 25% ownership stake in the firm for $56 million.

The senator requested contracts, cryptocurrency payment records, wallet addresses, and communications involving Tether, Nxum, Notorious, and Hines — a list that extends to the person now running Tether's American operations. A separate letter to Nxum CEO Todd Hines, Bo Hines' father, sought similar information. Both companies have until Nov. 6 to respond, giving the inquiry its first concrete checkpoint.

Part of a Broader Inquiry

The investigation adds to Blumenthal's growing scrutiny of Tether and its political connections. Earlier this month, the senator demanded information from Cantor Fitzgerald about its financial relationship with the issuer after a congressional report alleged that the $USDT stablecoin, the dollar-pegged token Tether issues, facilitates transactions within Iran's shadow banking network. Cantor Fitzgerald, previously led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and now controlled by his sons, owns a minority stake in Tether and manages substantial assets backing $USDT.

Blumenthal's latest inquiry focuses on whether Tether's financial relationships with politically connected individuals improperly influenced federal cryptocurrency legislation. The allegations have not resulted in established findings of wrongdoing, and Tether has yet to comment publicly on the investigation.

Source: CryptoNewsNet