Sen. Blumenthal seeks Tether records on reported Nxum payments
Sen. Richard Blumenthal requested Tether’s contracts, payments and lobbying records tied to Nxum and former White House adviser Bo Hines.
By Dev Ramirez · Crypto Correspondent
· 3 min read
Sen. Richard Blumenthal has asked Tether to provide records about its reported business relationship with Nxum, a consulting firm co-founded by former White House crypto adviser Bo Hines. The tether bo hines senate probe is a records request, not a finding that Tether, Hines or Nxum broke the law, but it puts a reported payment arrangement and Hines’ former policy role under fresh examination.
In an Oct. 22 letter to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, Blumenthal sought documents on contracts, payments, communications and lobbying involving Tether, Nxum, Hines and associated parties. Blumenthal is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and his letter gave Tether until Nov. 3 to respond.
What records is Blumenthal seeking from Tether?
The senator requested a full accounting of payments involving Nxum, marketing firm Notorious and their affiliates, including payment dates, methods and crypto wallet addresses. He also asked Tether to describe consulting and lobbying services Nxum provided, and to explain why Notorious and its chief executive, Peter Vincer, were used as intermediaries.
Blumenthal’s letter also asks why Tether and Nxum reportedly began contracting directly after Hines left the White House, as well as questions concerning a reported nondisclosure agreement sought from Vincer.
The Senate letter says its account relies in part on reporting by The Wall Street Journal. According to that reporting, Tether agreed in May 2025 to pay $415,000 a month for Nxum’s work on a strategic brand and public-affairs plan. The Journal reported that Nxum earned $6.3 million from the arrangement, with Notorious handling initial payments before later payments went directly to Nxum.
The reported $6.3 million represents earnings attributed to Nxum, not an established payment to Hines personally. The Journal also reported that Hines retained a one-third interest in Nxum while serving as executive director of President Donald Trump’s Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets.
Why does Hines’ former White House role matter?
While in government, Hines worked on stablecoin policy, according to Blumenthal’s letter. A stablecoin is a crypto token designed to maintain a stable value; Tether issues the USDT stablecoin.
Blumenthal argued that the reported arrangement raises potential ethics, anticorruption and lobbying-law concerns. Those are the senator’s allegations, based substantially on the Journal’s reporting, rather than conclusions from an enforcement case or a completed Senate investigation.
Hines left the White House on Aug. 9, 2025. Tether later named him chief executive of its new U.S. division, according to Decrypt. A representative for Nxum told The Wall Street Journal that Hines was not involved in the Tether arrangement while he was in government and did not receive funds derived from Tether during that period.
Tether said it was aware of the allegations underlying Blumenthal’s letter. The company said external counsel had previously conducted an internal investigation and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
The request follows another Tether-focused letter from Blumenthal earlier in October, when he sought records from Cantor Fitzgerald concerning its relationship with Tether, according to Decrypt.
This story draws on original reporting from Decrypt.
