A new super PAC, the Fellowship PAC, has disclosed its first expenditure ahead of the 2026 US congressional midterm elections, with $300,000 spent on advertising for Republican candidate Clay Fuller through Nxum Group, a firm co-founded by Bo Hines, the chief executive of Tether's US arm and a former adviser to President Donald Trump. The PAC, which claims to be rooted in transparency, has not responded to questions about its formation, funding, or the payment that may benefit Hines and his relative.
According to Michael Beckel, a political reform expert, setting up a super PAC and paying for services is not against US campaign-finance rules as long as the services are provided at fair market value. The Fellowship PAC's advertising effort on behalf of Fuller is not yet clear, but the funds were spent just as Fuller was winning his special election. The PAC's disclosures do not show a significant stockpile of contributions to back other candidates, despite an announcement last year that it would be established with pledges of $100 million. An outside spokesperson for Tether stated that Tether International has no affiliation or oversight over the Fellowship PAC, but did not respond to further questions about Tether US.
The PAC became active again this month when it announced its chairman would be Jesse Spiro, the vice president of regulatory affairs for Tether's US arm. The Fellowship PAC says it will begin actively supporting candidates aligned with its vision of fostering economic growth and reinforcing the US as a global leader in next-generation financial infrastructure. The PAC's first recipient of financial support, Fuller, is an incoming Republican member of the House of Representatives who will still need campaign support for the upcoming primary and general election. The money spent by the Fellowship super PAC was an independent expenditure, meaning it had to be handled without strategizing with Fuller's campaign.
As a candidate, Fuller has not broadcast a position on crypto and does not have a grade at Stand With Crypto, an advocacy group that evaluates candidates' views. The firm paid by the Fellowship PAC, Nxum, included Bo Hines among its owners when he filed ethics disclosures last year as a White House official.
It is unclear whether financial ties remain between Hines and Nxum. The PAC's treasurer who signed off on its first spending, Mitchell Nobel, is an executive at Cantor Fitzgerald, a firm that manages assets for Tether's global operation. When the Fellowship PAC was announced as a new PAC last year, it was presented as a contrast from previous political engagement, aiming to help the broader crypto ecosystem and not narrow or individual interests. It is possible that some or all of the promised $100 million is in the PAC's coffers already, because federal disclosures typically trail significantly behind the movements of money.
The relatively young Tether US's stablecoin, USAT, has a market cap of about $37 million, suggesting the firm may not have the independent resources yet to fund a major PAC. According to Beckel, massive spending by an industry is something that lawmakers are taking seriously and taking note of. The rival crypto super PAC, Fairshake, has expended millions in the early contests, and the Fellowship PAC's expenditure is still a drop in the bucket compared to Fairshake's receipts.
The US midterm elections are already well underway, with many of the hotly contested primaries already past or about to happen. If the US House is taken over by a Democratic majority, the committees there will likely shift their agenda to challenge Trump's legislative efforts and investigate the administration's actions. The crypto industry will likely need a lot of friends from both parties, and it's not too late for the Fellowship PAC to make a splash in a congressional field that's likely to have major significance for future crypto legislation.