Richard Blumenthal Probes Tether Payments to Bo Hines’ Consulting Firm

Sen. Richard Blumenthal is investigating millions of dollars in consulting payments Tether made to Nxum Group, a firm founded by former White House crypto adviser Bo Hines, after raising possible legal and ethics concerns.

Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has sent letters to Tether and Nxum seeking disclosure of their commercial arrangements. The payments were made while Hines was still advising the White House on crypto policy. Hines now leads Tether’s U.S. business.

Blumenthal says Hines directly took part in developing stablecoin policies that affected Tether during his government service. The senator argues that the overlap between Hines’ policy work and his company’s consulting payments from Tether may raise legal and ethics questions. The case centers on Hines’ White House policy role and the consulting relationship between his firm and Tether.

The letters ask both companies to disclose details of their business arrangements. Tether has not commented on the investigation.