Bo Hines, who served as a crypto adviser to US President Donald Trump before joining stablecoin issuer Tether, reportedly retained a stake in a company that benefited from the passage of a stablecoin bill while he was still working at the House.

According to a Wednesday report from The Wall Street Journal, Hines held a one-third stake in Nxum, an investment company he co-founded, at the same time he was pressing US lawmakers to pass the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS, Act — legislation that establishes the first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins in the United States. The report states the legislation advanced while Nxum was receiving $6.3 million under a deal with Tether, the issuer of the USDt (USDT) token, the world's largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with the first payment processed while Hines was still serving in government.

The Journal further reported that Hines stayed in contact with his Nxum partners while serving as Trump's crypto adviser, updating them on the GENIUS Act's progress through the Signal app.

He also reportedly urged his Nxum partners to characterize any Republican lawmakers who opposed the stablecoin bill as “undermining the president” and “bought and paid for by democratic shills like Coinbase and a16z.”

Hines left the administration to join Tether as a “strategic adviser” in August 2025 and became CEO of its US arm the following month.

The reported arrangement between a former White House official and a crypto company adds to ongoing accusations that Trump, his family, and his staff are personally benefiting from legislation they help draft and pass. Federal conflict-of-interest law generally bars executive branch employees from participating in official matters in which they hold a financial interest. The president disclosed earning $1.4 billion from investments tied to digital assets in 2025, including millions of dollars from World Liberty Financial, the crypto company tied to his family that issues the USD1 stablecoin.

The GENIUS Act passed Congress and was signed into law in July 2025 at a ceremony attended by numerous cryptocurrency executives, including those behind stablecoins such as Tether and Circle. Hines was in attendance and was personally recognized by Trump during the event.

Although signed into law in 2025, the GENIUS Act still requires implementing rules from the government agencies overseeing stablecoins, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department — processes that will determine what stablecoin issuers must do to comply. The law is scheduled to take effect in January 2027.

Cointelegraph contacted Tether for comment on the accusations in the report but did not receive an immediate response.

'Revolving door' between US policymakers and crypto companies continues

Several former government officials have moved into executive or advisory roles at digital asset companies. The pattern, often described as the Washington “revolving door,” is a long-standing feature of US financial regulation. Alongside Hines's move to Tether, Summer Mersinger, a former commissioner with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), resigned from her position three years before her term was scheduled to end to become CEO of the crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association.

On Wednesday, Solidus Labs announced that Kevin Webb, a former CFTC senior counsel and adviser to former Commissioner Brian Quintenz, would join the fintech company as its vice president of policy. Webb is not the first former regulator at the firm: Dawn Stump, also a former CFTC commissioner, left the agency in 2022 to join Solidus as a “strategic adviser.”

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