Senator Richard Blumenthal formally demanded on 22 October that Tether hand over records of every payment it made to Nxum Group, the consulting firm co-founded by Bo Hines, including dates, payment methods, and cryptocurrency wallet addresses used. Hines ran White House digital assets policy while the money moved, and he now runs the company's U.S. arm. Blumenthal's letter to Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino requests responses by 3 November, which is election day in the U.S. midterms. A second letter went to Nxum chief executive Todd Hines, Bo Hines's father.
The seven numbered requests cover the period from 1 January 2024 to the present. Blumenthal wants a breakdown of all payments to Nxum, to the marketing firm Notorious, or to any individuals affiliated with either, plus every consulting and lobbying service Nxum performed whether or not a contract specified it. Records of communications and contracts with Bo Hines between 20 January and 9 August 2025, the span of his government service, are requested in full, along with anything touching regulators or lobbying.
Tether agreed in May 2025 to pay $415,000 a month after Nxum pitched it “strategic lobbying and a full scale public relations and media awareness campaign,” according to the letter. Rather than contracting directly, Tether assigned the contract and sent payments in cryptocurrency through Notorious, run by Peter Vincer, which passed them to Nxum, where the letter says they were split three ways and transferred again. Direct contracting began once Hines left government.
Reporting by Unchained puts the total under the marketing deal at about $6.3 million, with a first installment of $2.49 million from Bitfinex on 11 May 2025, of which Vincer kept $498,000. Fellowship PAC, chaired by Tether executive Jesse Spiro, separately paid Nxum $6.55 million across five disbursements between January and April 2026. Blumenthal asks why Notorious was used as an intermediary and why the firms later sought a nondisclosure agreement from Vincer, who the letter says was offered over $300,000 and a stake in future payments in exchange for one. A fourth request asks whether the two have discussed Tether buying into Nxum, after the Journal reported Nxum sought investment claiming a 25% stake would go for $56 million.
Tether said in a statement that external counsel previously conducted an in-depth internal investigation and found no evidence of wrongdoing. A representative for Nxum told the Journal that Hines “did not receive any Tether-derived funds during that period.” Ardoino had already criticized the senator's methods on 19 October, saying Blumenthal ignored relevant information and briefed the press before letting the company respond. No criminal allegation has been made against any party.
The substance Blumenthal is circling is legislative. Hines personally lobbied for changes to the GENIUS Act that would let Tether keep operating outside the United States and give it longer to comply, provisions the letter calls the “Tether loophole.” Hines announced his departure on 9 August 2025, 22 days after the GENIUS Act was signed, and the announcement of his hiring followed on 19 August. USDT now has until July 2028 to find a compliant path or U.S. exchanges may have to stop offering it. A separate federally regulated token, USAT, was built for the domestic market meanwhile.
Blumenthal holds the ranking member's seat rather than the chair's, making this a minority-staff inquiry seeking voluntary cooperation. Under the subcommittee's rules, subpoenas are authorized by the chair or a designated member, which is why the letter was copied to Chair Ron Johnson. Nothing compels a reply. Prediction market Kalshi put Democratic chances of taking the chamber at 69% as of 22 October. A records request is not an enforcement action, so the near-term risk to Tether is disclosure and reputation rather than any penalty.
