Tether paid over $6 million to Nxum, a consulting firm co-founded by former White House crypto adviser Bo Hines, while he was actively promoting the GENIUS Act. Internal documents and payment records reveal the funds were distributed among three partners at the firm where Hines retained a stake and continued discussing legislation via Signal despite stepping back from daily operations. Hines left his government post in August 2025 after the GENIUS Act was signed into law in July and was named CEO of Tether's U.S. stablecoin business in September. The financial relationship between the stablecoin issuer and Hines' firm during his tenure as a policy adviser has raised potential conflict-of-interest questions regarding the intersection of his public duties and private business interests.