A newly established political action committee, The Fellowship PAC, has disclosed its first expenditure, with $300,000 being spent on advertising for Georgia Republican Clay Fuller through Nxum Group, a firm co-founded by Bo Hines, who currently serves as the chief executive of Tether's US operation and previously advised President Donald Trump. The Fellowship PAC, which claims to be rooted in transparency, has not responded to questions regarding its formation, funding, or the payment that may benefit the Tether US CEO and his relative.
According to Michael Beckel, an expert at Issue One, a political reform organization, setting up a super PAC and paying oneself for services is not against US campaign-finance rules as long as the service is provided at an appropriate market value. The Fellowship PAC's advertising effort on behalf of House of Representatives candidate Fuller is not yet clear, apart from the disclosure that money was given to the advertisement provider for his primary election effort. An outside spokesperson for Tether stated that Tether International has no affiliation or oversight over Fellowship PAC, while deferring further inquiries to the PAC, which did not respond. The PAC's disclosures do not demonstrate a significant stockpile of contributions to back other candidates, with its current accounts still showing zero, despite an announcement last year that it would be established with pledges of $100 million.
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, and began listing endorsements for Republican politicians seeking House and Senate seats on its social media feed. The Fellowship 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 in his state.
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 publicly broadcast a position on crypto and does not have a grade at Stand With Crypto, an advocacy group that evaluates candidates' views, but he does have the backing of Trump. The firm paid by Fellowship PAC, Nxum, included Bo Hines among its owners when he filed ethics disclosures last year as a White House official working as a leading adviser trying to push crypto legislative advances. It is unclear whether financial ties remain between Hines and Nxum.
There is no federal record for Nxum as a regular service provider for additional political efforts, apart from its contribution of billboard advertising valued at $1 million for MAGA Inc in support of Trump in 2024. The PAC's treasurer, Mitchell Nobel, is an executive at Cantor Fitzgerald, a firm that manages assets for Tether's global operation and was run by Trump's secretary of commerce, Howard Lutnick, before he joined the administration.
When Fellowship 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, as 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 so far, 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 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.
It's not too late for Fellowship to make a splash in a congressional field that's likely to have major significance for future crypto legislation, but so far, the PAC is focusing support only on Republicans, almost all of them said by political analysts to be in deep-red regions.