HINES bo nc

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crypto-money-trump-inauguration-00199088

Jasper Goodman01/17/2025

The cryptocurrency industry, fresh off a 2024 elections spending spree, has turned its influence efforts in recent months to a new target: celebrating the start of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.

Leading crypto firms have pumped at least $10 million into the Trump inaugural fund, and top executives are flocking to Washington ahead of the incoming president’s swearing-in on Monday.

Crypto companies including Ripple, Coinbase, Kraken, Robinhood and Circle have made seven-figure donations to Trump’s inaugural committee since Election Day — part of a wave of corporate contributions that Trump has reeled in as big businesses scrambled to curry favor with the incoming administration.

The donations, which will fund the glitzy official events surrounding the inauguration, exemplify the giddiness across the digital asset sector as Trump prepares to become the first-ever explicitly pro-crypto U.S. president. The industry is eyeing any avenue of influence as it pushes the incoming administration and a GOP-controlled Congress to complete a regulatory overhaul that could boost its growth.

“This is a moment of celebration for the industry,” said Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, a leading crypto trade association.

The industry laid the groundwork for that celebration by pouring more than $160 million into a super PAC that helped elect a bipartisan slate of lawmakers sympathetic to its agenda. The high-dollar influence campaigns illustrate how the crypto industry has become a major new well that politicians are tapping for contributions, helping it play an outsize role in American politics.

Crypto firms are hosting a sold-out unofficial inaugural ball on Friday at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in downtown Washington. The event, which is set to feature Snoop Dogg as a musical guest, is being put on in part by David Bailey, who runs a bitcoin conference that Trump spoke at last summer. Other sponsors include the Coinbase-backed advocacy group Stand With Crypto and the digital asset firms Exodus, Anchorage Digital and Kraken.

It all comes as crypto executives and their lobbyists are scrambling to gain sway over the policy changes that Trump has vowed to usher in, which include stockpiling bitcoin and putting in place a new framework for how digital assets are regulated — “written by people who love your industry.”

One target of fixation for players in the crypto space is a digital assets advisory council that Trump has vowed to create, led by incoming White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks and former North Carolina Congressional candidate Bo Hines.

“Everyone is jockeying for it,” said one Washington crypto lobbyist, granted anonymity to speak candidly about sensitive dynamics within the industry.

Several top executives are expected to be in town for the inauguration, along with other tech leaders who have taken steps to get in Trump’s good graces in recent months. And many firms have shelled out to fill the inaugural fund’s coffers.

The crypto firm Ripple, a major target of enforcement action from the SEC that the industry decried during the Biden era, donated $5 million in digital tokens to the inaugural committee, according to a spokesperson for the company. Two of the firm’s top executives, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty, who met with Trump earlier this month at Mar-a-Lago, plan to attend the swearing-in.

The U.S. crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken and the stablecoin company Circle, which issues a token that is pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar, each donated $1 million to the inaugural fund. Robinhood, a leading online brokerage that dabbles in crypto, donated $2 million, according to a spokesperson. Top Coinbase executives including CEO Brian Armstrong were on Capitol Hill on Friday, ahead of the inauguration. Armstrong has twice met with Trump, according to a spokesperson for the company, including once since Election Day.

“I think it’s important to ensure that industry … can engage with this administration and engage in a meaningful way during the transition period,” Kara Calvert, vice president for U.S. policy at Coinbase, said of the firm’s donation. “This is the most pro-crypto president that we’ve ever seen, and he has made a platform clear now for months. And that is a really attractive characteristic right now.”

The donations have become an early target for Democrats and watchdog groups, who say the president is selling influence.

“Billionaires think they bought this government,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a leading critic of the crypto industry in Congress, told reporters Thursday. “They’re sure throwing their weight around.”

*Irie Sentner and Eleanor Mueller contributed to this report.

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10 25 not much talk

Robert Hines (born August 29, 1995) is an American businessman, former government official, and former college football player from North Carolina. He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack and Yale Bulldogs. In 2022, he was the Republican nominee in North Carolina's 13th congressional district. From January to August 2025, Hines was the executive director of the President's Council of Advisers on Digital Assets in Donald Trump's second administration. Prior to his role in public office he was the co-founder of the investment firm Nxum Capital. Since September 2025, Hines has served as the CEO of cryptocurrency stablecoin company Tether's US arm, Tether U.S.

Early life and education

Hines was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.^[1] He attended Charlotte Christian School, where he played football as a wide receiver.^[2]

Hines attended North Carolina State University to play college football for the NC State Wolfpack.^[3] He led NC State with 45 receptions and 616 receiving yards,^[4][5] including three passes for 79 yards in the 2014 St. Petersburg Bowl.^[3]

In 2015, Hines transferred to Yale University because of his interest in politics.^[6][7] He played in four games for the Yale Bulldogs during the 2015 season, catching 11 passes for 134 yards, but missed the rest of the season and the 2016 season due to a separated shoulder that required surgery.^[4]

In 2017, Hines retired from college football.^[5] He received his Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2022.^[8]

Politics

In January 2021, Hines announced that he would run as a Republican for the United States House of Representatives in North Carolina's 5th congressional district, held by Republican Virginia Foxx.^[9]

In February 2022, the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down North Carolina's congressional lines, stating they were "unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt."^[10] After the North Carolina district lines were thrown out, Hines switched districts to run in the newly created 13th congressional district which is based in the suburbs of Raleigh.^[11] He received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump on March 14, who called Hines a "fighter for Conservative values."^[12]

[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Consensus_2025_-_Bo_Hines_03.jpg)Hines at Consensus 2025

In April 2022, local Republicans campaigned against Hines through newspaper advertisements, email blasts, and door-knocking because Hines did not live in the district in which he was running. He lived in Winston-Salem, the heart of the old 5th, but he was in the process of moving to Fuquay-Varina in the new 13th.^[13][14] Members of the House are only required to live in the state they represent, but longstanding convention calls for them to live in or close to the district they represent.

2022 election

Main article: 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina § District 13

On May 17, 2022, Hines won the Republican primary against seven opponents, garnering 32 percent of the vote and defeating his closest opponent by nearly double digits.^[15] Hines narrowly lost the election to Democratic state Senator Wiley Nickel.^[16][17][18]

In May 2022, Business Insider reported that Hines was funding the majority of his campaign with a trust fund.^[19] Campaign finance disclosures show that only 28 percent of Hines' race was self-funded, with a majority of campaign contributions coming from individual donors.^[20] While campaigning on an "America-First economy", Hines faced criticism because his campaign hats were made in China.^[21]

On the campaign trail, Hines said he was personally opposed to abortion rights, but that abortion is a states rights issue. Hines said, "This is a Raleigh issue, not a Washington issue."^[22] Hines expressed belief that the 2020 election was stolen and promoted voter fraud conspiracy theories.^[23]

2024 election

Hines filed papers in November 2023 to run as a Republican in North Carolina's 6th Congressional district.^[24] Despite support from the Club for Growth,^[25] Hines came in fourth place.^[26] Addison McDowell, who secured Donald Trump's endorsement, won the Republican primary and the general election.

Trump administration

In December 2024, then-President-elect Donald Trump announced that Hines would join his administration as Executive Director of the President's Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, taking office on January 20, 2025.^[27] Hines's position was described as the "White House Digital Asset Policy Advisor" and as "Digital Policy Czar."^[28][29] During his time with the administration, Hines helped to shepherd the creation of the GENIUS Act into law,^[30] and acted as a key aide on other cryptocurrency initiatives as well, according to the Wall Street Journal.^[31] Hines announced his resignation on August 9, 2025, and said he planned to return to the private sector.^[32]

Private sector

Before his role in the Trump administration, Hines cofounded the investment firm called Nxum Capital with his father Todd Hines.^[33] In August 2025 Hines began working for El Salvadorian cryptocurrency firm Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer in the world, in order to run its operations in the United States.^[34] In this role, Hines was tasked with aiding the expansion of the company further into the US.^[35] In September Hines was named CEO of Tether U.S.^[36]

Personal life

Hines's father, Todd, played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.^[3] Hines married Olivia Elizabeth Andretti in June 2017.^[5] The couple divorced in July 2019,^[37][better ^source ^needed] and Hines married Mary Charles Bryson in July 2021.^[38]

References

ggl 10 25

[### Bo Hines

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Bo_Hines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Hines)

Robert Hines (born August 29, 1995) is an American businessman, former government official, and former college football player from North Carolina.

[### Bo Hines (@BoHines) / Posts / X

X · BoHines

118.4K+ followers](https://x.com/BoHines)

Empowering everyday transactions with speed, transparency, and freedom. Because your money should work for you. 20. 12. 141. 20919 ·. Bo Hines ...

[### Bo Hines (@bohinesnc)

Instagram · bohinesnc

333.4K+ followers](https://www.instagram.com/bohinesnc/?hl=en)

It was truly an honor to host the greatest President in the history of the United ...