At the White House, crypto policy vacancy looms large

A White House signing and celebration ensued, in which many of the most prominent names in crypto enjoyed front-row seats. Less than two weeks later, the administration released a comprehensive crypto agenda that set out its specific plans for fostering the sector in the U.S.

Having helped establish the U.S. law for stablecoin issuers, Hines took a job running the U.S. arm of the leading issuer, Tether. Meanwhile, a consulting firm he set up with his father and another partner, Nxum, was also paid millions of dollars as the main provider of services for a new political action committee, first revealed in reporting by CoinDesk. The super PAC was funded mostly by Tether's U.S. financial partner, Cantor Fitzgerald, and led by a Tether exec.

This week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Hines' Nxum, had received payments from Tether for consulting services while Hines was at the White House working on the GENIUS Act.

Hines' deputy on the council, Witt, took over for Hines as its new executive director. Another former football star, Witt also had a greater depth of Washington experience, and he became the face of the White House's push for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Over the ensuing months of negotiations, Witt didn't conceal his frustration, regularly taking to social media site X to fume about those he saw as getting in the way of the Senate bill that would erect a U.S. regulatory scaffold for crypto markets.