The crypto sector’s new Fellowship political action committee revealed its first contribution ahead of the 2026 congressional midterm elections, with the $300,000 it spent going to a company co-founded by President Donald Trump’s former crypto advisor Bo Hines, now CEO of Tether US.
The super PAC Fellowship had touted itself as a crypto campaign finance giant last year, but had yet to participate in the US midterm elections until a new federal disclosure indicated it had signed its first check. From the moment the PAC was announced, the effort was reported to be linked to Tether, although the company declined to confirm the connection. On April 1, the PAC named American Tether executive Jesse Spiro as its president.
Days later, Fellowship quietly filed its first expense statement with the Federal Election Commission, reporting that it had purchased advertising for Georgia Republican Clay Fuller through Nxum Group, a company co-founded by Hines, his father Todd Hines and a third partner. The PAC, which says it is “based on transparency,” has not responded to CoinDesk’s questions about its formation and funding, nor about the payment that could benefit the Tether US CEO and his relative.
Setting up a super PAC and paying yourself for services is not against US campaign finance rules, as long as the service is provided at appropriate market value, said Michael Beckel of the political reform organization Issue One.
“There is no general prohibition on doing business with each other when we talk about political committees like this,” he said in an interview. “The general rule is that services must be provided in good faith (actual services) and the rates paid must be fair market rates.”
Fellowship’s advertising effort on behalf of House candidate Fuller remains unclear, aside from the PAC’s disclosure to the FEC that money was given to the advertising provider for its primary campaign effort. The funds changed hands just as Fuller was winning his special election, according to the document.
However, the PAC’s disclosures have yet to demonstrate a reserve of contributions to support other candidates, and still show its checking accounts at zero, despite an announcement last year that it would be established with promises of $100 million.
An outside Tether spokesperson asked about activity at Fellowship responded that Tether International has no affiliation with or oversight over Fellowship PAC. The representative did not respond to additional questions about Tether US and deferred further inquiries to the PAC, which did not respond.
restraints
The PAC only became active again this month when it announced that its president would be Spiro, the vice president of regulatory affairs for Tether’s US arm. Fellowship also began including endorsements for Republican politicians seeking seats in the House and Senate, as well as a South Carolina gubernatorial candidate, Alan Wilson, in its feed on social media site X. The PAC said it is endorsing proponents of emerging digital asset technology.
The Fellowship PAC “will begin actively supporting candidates aligned with this vision: leaders who recognize the importance of fostering economic growth and reinforcing the United States as a global leader in next-generation financial infrastructure,” he said in a statement, although Spiro did not respond to an attempt to reach him on social media.
The first recipient of financial support from the PAC, Fuller, is an incoming Republican member of the House of Representatives after winning a special election to replace firebrand Marjorie Taylor Green. Even after that victory, the Georgia politician (not announced among Fellowship’s endorsements) will still need campaign support for the upcoming primary and general elections in that state. The money spent by Fellowship’s super PAC was an independent expense, meaning it had to be handled without strategizing with Fuller’s campaign.
As a candidate, Fuller has not published a position on cryptocurrencies and does not have a rating on Stand With Crypto, an advocacy group that evaluates candidates’ opinions. He has the backing of Trump, who called him “a wonderful, talented man” in a post on Truth Social.
The CEO’s former company
The Fellowship PAC-paid company, Nxum, listed Bo Hines among its owners when he filed ethics disclosures last year as a White House official, working as a lead adviser trying to push for crypto-legislative advances. It is unclear whether financial ties between Hines and Nxum persist.
There is no federal registration for Nxum as a regular provider of services for additional political efforts. Prior to this, the company’s main claim to fame was when it contributed $1 million worth of billboards to 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 Advisors on Digital Assets. After less than a year helping push the stablecoin bill of 2025, Hines left presidential service to take a role at leading stablecoin issuer Tether, which was moving to the US.
The treasurer of the PAC that approved its first spending, 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 Fellowship announced itself as a new PAC last year, it was presented as a contrast to previous political engagement. Without naming Fairshake, he said that unlike previous efforts, it would be “defined by transparency and trust,” aiming to help the broader crypto ecosystem and not by “narrow or individual interests.”
Some or all of the promised $100 million may already be in the PAC’s coffers, because federal disclosures often lag far behind money movements. When any contributions are made public, they will identify the origin of the money, which must come from US sources.
USAT, Tether US’s relatively young stablecoin, has a market capitalization of around $37 million so far, suggesting that the company may not yet have the independent resources to fund a major PAC.
“Occasionally, those kinds of threats from super PACs are paper tigers that never materialize,” Beckel said. “But today we are seeing that massive spending by an industry is something that policymakers are taking seriously and taking note.”
the rival
So far, the amount the Fellowship PAC has spent remains a drop in the ocean compared to the income of leading crypto super PAC, Fairshake.
The midterm elections in the United States are already underway and many of the most contested primaries have already passed or are about to be held. Fairshake has spent millions on the early contests.
If the US House of Representatives is taken by a Democratic majority (an 87% probability according to Polymarket betting), the committees will likely shift their agenda to challenge Trump’s legislative efforts and investigate the administration’s actions. Even the difficult alignment of races for Democrats to make it to the Senate has shifted toward better-than-even odds, suggesting the likelihood that the crypto industry needs plenty of friends from both parties.
It’s not too late for Fellowship to make waves in a congressional field that will likely have great importance for future cryptocurrency legislation. So far, the PAC is focusing its support only on Republicans, almost all of whom, according to political analysts, are in deep red regions. If they win, they may face challenging change on Capitol Hill next year.
Read more: A $100 million crypto campaign fund with a pro-Trump vibe has so far not appeared
