A recently launched cryptocurrency industry political action committee, known as Fellowship PAC, has begun its operations with an $11 million investment and has booked $3 million in advertising services through Nxum Group, a company co-founded by Tether US CEO Bo Hines. According to filings with the Federal Election Commission, the super PAC has garnered $10 million from Cantor Fitzgerald and $1 million from Anchorage Digital, a crypto bank. The initial $3 million expenditure on political advertising for its preferred candidates has been allocated to Nxum Group, which was founded by Hines, his father, and another partner. Although Fellowship PAC has been closely associated with Tether since its inception and has a senior Tether executive as its chairman, the majority of its funding originated from Cantor Fitzgerald, a New York-based financial services giant that manages Tether's stablecoin reserves.
Cantor's former CEO, Howard Lutnick, currently serves as Commerce Secretary under President Donald Trump, while his children have taken over the family business. A representative from Tether US did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a Cantor spokesperson declined to comment on their involvement with the super PAC.
When Fellowship PAC was first announced, it declared that it would wield $100 million, rivaling the leading crypto PAC, Fairshake. The PAC's treasurer is an executive at Cantor. So far, the PAC has dedicated $300,000 to support Clay Fuller, the newest member of the U.S.
House of Representatives; $850,000 to back Nate Morris for a U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky; and $350,000 to support incumbent Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The filings also revealed that Nxum has received $3 million in disbursements for advertising services. Prior to this, Nxum did not have a significant track record in serving PACs or campaigns, with its primary claim to fame being $1 million in billboard ads donated to MAGA Inc.
in 2024, shortly before Hines took a high-profile job at the White House. Upon its formation, Fellowship PAC announced that it had $100 million in pledged backing and would champion transparency as it supported pro-crypto candidates, although this level of funding has yet to materialize.
Anchorage Digital, the first crypto-native bank to receive a U.S. federal charter, described its contribution as an investment in the U.S.
crypto policy process, stating that it has made a corporate contribution to the Fellowship PAC as part of its bipartisan approach to advancing regulatory clarity for digital assets in the United States. Despite the involvement of Tether executives in Fellowship PAC's work, it remains unclear whether Tether or its U.S.
arm, Tether US, would be able to make direct contributions to the PAC, as non-U.S. entities are not allowed to directly participate in U.S.
campaign finances.