Cantor Fitzgerald — formerly run by Secretary Lutnick, now the USAT Reserve Custodian — contributed $10 million to Fellowship PAC, where the Tether leader holds the chairmanship and the funds are channeled through the Tether executive's company.
Cantor Fitzgerald , a Wall Street firm formerly run by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and now controlled by his sons, contributed $10 million to Fellowship PAC in February, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). This contribution highlights an increasingly intricate web of interests between the cryptocurrency industry, the traditional financial system, and the policymaking machine in Washington.
The Fellowship PAC was established in September 2025 with over $100 million in committed funding, stating its goal is to support applicants “committed to building transparent and predictable regulations for digital assets.” Earlier this month, the PAC appointed Jesse Spiro, Tether ’s US leader, as its president.
Even more noteworthy is that over $1 million of the PAC's political advertising expenses went to Nxum Group, LLC, a company co-founded by Bo Hines, CEO of Tether, who previously led the President's Advisory Council on Digital Assets at the White House.
A self-contained ecosystem of benefits
The connections don't stop there. Cantor Fitzgerald and Tether have maintained a partnership since 2021, when the company began Vai as a custodian for Tether.
When Tether launched its US-market-targeted stablecoin, USAT, in January following Congress's passage of stablecoin legislation, Cantor Fitzgerald continued to serve as the preferred custodian and primary maker, while Anchorage Digital, the first federally licensed crypto asset bank, was the issuer.
Anchorage also contributed $1 million to the Fellowship PAC, stating that the money reflects a commitment to promoting clear regulation for digital assets across both parties.
The overall picture reveals a vicious cycle: the same group of actors both built the dominant stablecoin infrastructure and funded election campaigns that shaped policy governing the industry. During his Senate confirmation hearing last year, Lutnick was questioned about the extent of his influence over the cryptocurrency industry, but that question now has more data to answer.
Fellowship PACs have spent money supporting candidates in Kentucky, Nebraska, and Georgia; Cantor Fitzgerald and Tether declined to comment; and the lines between legitimate business and strategic lobbying are becoming increasingly blurred.
