A recently launched crypto industry political action committee, known as Fellowship PAC, has commenced operations with an $11 million backing and has reserved $3 million in advertising services from Nxum Group, a firm established by Tether US CEO Bo Hines. The super PAC is primarily supporting Republican candidates in congressional and gubernatorial races.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, the committee has gathered $10 million from Cantor Fitzgerald and $1 million from Anchorage Digital, a crypto bank. Its initial $3 million expenditure on political advertising for favored candidates has been allocated to Nxum Group, which was founded by Hines, his father, and another partner.
Although Fellowship PAC has been linked to 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 handles Tether's stablecoin business reserves. Cantor's former chief, Howard Lutnick, currently serves as Trump's Commerce Secretary, and his children have taken over the business. A representative of 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. Initially, Fellowship PAC announced it would wield $100 million, rivaling the leading crypto PAC, Fairshake.
The PAC's treasurer is an executive at Cantor. The committee has allocated $300,000 to support Clay Fuller, a new 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 disclosed 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 a $1 million donation of billboard ads to MAGA Inc.
in 2024. When its formation was announced, Fellowship PAC stated it had $100 million in pledged backing and would advocate for transparency while supporting pro-crypto candidates.
However, this promised level of funding has not yet materialized. Anchorage Digital, the first crypto-native bank to receive a U.S. federal charter, characterized its contribution as an investment in the U.S.
crypto policy process. The company stated, 'Anchorage Digital has made a corporate contribution to the Fellowship PAC as part of our broader, bipartisan approach to advancing regulatory clarity for digital assets in the United States.' Despite the involvement of Tether executives in Fellowship PAC's activities, it remains unclear whether Tether or its U.S. arm, Tether US, can make direct contributions to the PAC, as non-U.S.
entities are not allowed to participate directly in U.S. campaign finances.