The crypto sector’s new Fellowship political action committee unveiled its first contribution ahead of the 2026 midterm congressional elections, and the $300,000 it spent went to a company co-founded by President Donald Trump’s former crypto adviser, Bo Hines — now CEO of Tether US.
The Fellowship super PAC had announced itself as a crypto campaign finance juggernaut last year, but had yet to participate in the US midterm elections until a new federal disclosure showed it had signed its first check. From the time the PAC was announced, the effort was reportedly tied to Tether, though the company declined to confirm the connection. On April 1, PAC named Tether US executive Jesse Spiro as its chairman.
Days later, Fellowship quietly filed its first spending filing with the Federal Election Commission, reporting that it bought ads for Georgia Republican Clay Fuller through the Nxum Group — a company co-founded by Hines, father Todd Hines and a third partner. The PAC, which says it is “rooted in transparency,” did not respond to CoinDesk questions about its formation and funding, nor about the payment that may benefit the Tether US CEO and his relative.
Creating a super PAC and paying yourself for services is not against U.S. campaign finance rules, as long as the service is provided at fair market value, said Michael Beckel of the political reform organization Issue One.
“There is no blanket ban on self-dealing when we’re talking about political committees like this,” he said in an interview. “The general rule is that services must be performed that are bona fide services—actual services—and the prices paid must be fair market prices.”
The Fellowship’s advertising efforts on behalf of House candidate Fuller are not yet clear, except for the disclosure the PAC made to the FEC that money was given to the ad provider for his primary election efforts. The funds changed hands just as Fuller won his special election, according to the filing.
The PAC’s disclosures, however, do not yet show a stockpile of contributions to support other candidates, and still show its current accounts at zero, despite an announcement last year that it would be established with $100 million in pledges.
An external spokesperson for Tether, when asked about the activity on Fellowship, responded that Tether International has no affiliation with or oversight of the Fellowship PAC. The representative did not respond to further questions about Tether US, deferring further inquiries to PAC, which did not respond.
Tether tape
The PAC only became active again this month when it announced that its chairman would be Spiro, vice president of regulatory affairs for Tether’s US arm. The Fellowship also began listing endorsements for Republican politicians seeking House and Senate seats, plus a candidate for South Carolina governor Alan Wilson, on its social media feed X. The PAC said it backs advocates of new digital asset technology.
Fellowship PAC “will begin actively supporting candidates who are aligned with this vision — leaders who recognize the importance of promoting economic growth and strengthening the United States as the global leader in the next generation of financial infrastructure,” it said in a statement, although Spiro did not respond to an attempt to reach him via social media.
The PAC’s first recipient of financial support, Fuller, is an incoming Republican member of the House of Representatives, having just won a special election to replace firebrand Marjorie Taylor Green. Even after that victory, the Georgia politician — who is not announced among the Fellowship’s endorsements — will still need campaign support for the upcoming primary and general elections in that state. The money spent by the Fellowship super PAC was an independent expense, meaning it had to be handled without strategy by Fuller’s campaign.
As a candidate, Fuller has not issued a position on crypto and does not have a profile with Stand With Crypto, an advocacy group that evaluates candidates’ views. He has the support of Trump, who called him “a wonderful and talented man” in a post on Truth Social.
CEO’s old company
The firm paid for by the Fellowship PAC, Nxum, included Bo Hines among its owners when it filed ethics disclosures last year as a White House official working as a lead adviser trying to push legislative progress in the crypto space. It is unclear whether financial ties remain between Hines and Nxum.
There is no federal record of Nxum as a regular service provider for further policy efforts. Prior to this, the company’s primary claim to fame was contributing $1 million worth of billboards for MAGA Inc. in support of Trump in 2024. Less than two months after that, the White House hired Hines as executive director of the President’s Council of Digital Asset Advisors. After less than a year helping shepherd the 2025 stablecoin law, Hines left the president’s service to take a role at leading stablecoin issuer Tether, which was entering the U.S.
The PAC’s treasurer who signed off on its first spend, Mitchell Nobel, is an executive at Cantor Fitzgerald, a firm that manages assets for Tether’s global operations and was run by Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, before joining the administration.
When the Fellowship was announced as a new PAC last year, it was presented as a contrast from past political engagement. Without naming Fairshake, it said that, unlike previous efforts, it would be “defined by transparency and trust,” aimed at helping the broader crypto ecosystem and not “narrow or individual interests.”
It’s possible that some or all of the pledged $100 million is already in the PAC’s coffers because federal disclosures typically trail significantly behind the money movements. When any contributions are made public, they will identify the origin of the money, which must be from US sources.
The relatively young Tether US’s stablecoin, USAT, has a market capitalization of around $37 million so far, suggesting that the firm may not yet have the independent resources to fund a major PAC.
“Sometimes these types of super PAC threats are paper tigers that never materialize,” Beckel said. “But we see in this day and age that massive spending by an industry is something that lawmakers take seriously and take note of.”
The rival
So far, the amount spent by the Fellowship PAC is still a drop in the bucket compared to the receipts of the leading crypto super PAC, Fairshake.
The US midterm elections are already well under way and many of the hotly contested primaries are already over or about to take place. Fairshake has spent millions in the early competitions.
If the US House is taken over by a Democratic majority (an 87% chance, according to Polymarket betting), committees there will likely shift its agenda to challenge Trump’s legislative efforts and investigate the administration’s actions. Even the difficult series of races for Democrats to take the Senate has shifted towards better than even odds, suggesting the likelihood that the crypto industry will need a lot of friends from both parties.
It’s not too late for Fellowship to strike a chord in a congressional field that is likely to have major implications for future crypto legislation. So far, the PAC is focusing support only on Republicans, nearly all of whom political analysts said are in deep red regions. If they win, they could face a challenging shift on Capitol Hill next year.
Read more: A $100 million crypto campaign fund with a pro-Trump sentiment has so far not surfaced
