Before joining the government, 29-year-old Bo Hines had been investing in the crypto field for nearly a decade.
Written by: Amrith Ramkumar, Wall Street Journal reporter
Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News
When Donald Trump selected Bo Hines to serve in his administration as a senior official in the cryptocurrency sector, crypto industry executives were thrown into a panic.
After this appointment was announced last December, several executives recalled that they investigated Hines and found that he had been a college football player and had lost a congressional race in North Carolina, but they could hardly find any background related to Bitcoin.
Now, Hines, whom Trump appointed as the executive director of the President's Advisory Council on Digital Assets, has become the liaison between the government, businesses, and Capitol Hill. This 29-year-old is actually the day-to-day executor of the government's plan to promote the development of the cryptocurrency industry, working alongside renowned venture capitalist and AI and crypto affairs leader David Sacks.
Crypto industry executives say Sacks has taken on more of a role in setting the high-level agenda. They also added that so far, Hines' understanding of major policy issues in the industry has impressed them. This Friday, Hines and the White House will host a cryptocurrency summit, inviting companies from the crypto industry to attend.
Hines said in an interview, "I'm like a quarterback, making sure everyone is on the right route on the field."
Hines is helping the White House push for relevant bills to be passed by Congress within the next five months, which outline the regulation of cryptocurrencies. He is evaluating the feasibility of establishing a national cryptocurrency reserve, while also playing a role in overturning the Biden administration's regulatory actions against leading companies in the crypto industry.
Kara Calvert, the U.S. policy lead at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, met with Hines and described him as taking seriously the deadlines set out in the crypto executive order signed by Trump in January. She said, "It's a thorny issue that needs to be untangled, and he's doing a good job on that." The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently dismissed a lawsuit against Coinbase.
After pouring large sums of money into Trump's presidential campaign and inauguration, and donating about $170 million last year to elect friendly lawmakers, the cryptocurrency industry has become an important player in Washington. Trump has expressed support for the industry and even launched his own Memecoin.
Hines, who received Trump's support, ran for a vacant House seat in his home state of North Carolina in 2022.
Before joining the government, Hines led a "anti-woke" media company. The company collaborated with a cryptocurrency project that issued a Trump-themed Memecoin, whose value fluctuated significantly last year.
What many didn't know when he was appointed was that Hines learned about the cryptocurrency industry while attending a bowl game sponsored by a Bitcoin company, and has been investing in cryptocurrencies for nearly a decade. To avoid conflicts of interest while in government, he sold his cryptocurrency assets. He also studied cryptocurrency regulation issues in law school.
Dan Spuller, the senior director of industry affairs at the Blockchain Association, said, "He is one of the few who can balance the crypto space and Trump's 'Make America Great Again' ideology."
Critics say the desire to mainstream cryptocurrencies may have drawbacks.
Democratic Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota said, "If you start integrating cryptocurrencies into the financial system, you have to be very sure that you have the right safeguards in place to limit the potential for harm." She has not yet met with Hines.
Hines will be at the center of the debate on stablecoin regulation legislation, as stablecoins are a widely used cryptocurrency often pegged to government-issued currencies like the U.S. dollar.
Bills that blur the regulatory boundaries between the SEC and CFTC are expected to spark a messy debate.
For a national digital asset reserve, companies also have differences. If a national digital asset reserve can bring new government purchases, it is seen as a potential boon for the industry. Hines said the government must first take stock of the crypto assets it currently holds.
According to insiders, in recent weeks, Hines has considered replacing the President's Digital Assets Council, which is composed of industry executives, with a series of summits. Trump is expected to speak at the summit at the White House this Friday.
In 2014, Hines, wearing jersey number 82, was a wide receiver for North Carolina State University.
Before recently moving to Washington, most of Hines' life was spent in North Carolina. Football is a sport passed down in his family: his father briefly played for the Detroit Lions.
In 2014, the young Hines became an outstanding wide receiver as a freshman at North Carolina State University, often catching passes from Jacoby Brissett, who would later go on to play in the National Football League (NFL). He later transferred to Yale University, where a shoulder injury ended his athletic career, and then went to Wake Forest University Law School, where he studied issues such as how the CFTC regulates cryptocurrencies.
According to Hines' former professor Raina Haque, Hines showed interest in the field, but was not a fanatical Bitcoin supporter. She said, "He's not the kind of zealot who sees cryptocurrencies as a panacea for all the world's problems."
In 2022, Hines ran for a vacant House seat in his home state of North Carolina, echoing Trump's claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Trump supported Hines, but he lost a close race. His campaign funding came from a trust fund and a political action committee founded by a former FTX executive.
Hines was criticized by Democrats for handing out China-made hats to voters while calling for a "America First" economic agenda.
Hines ran for the House seat again last year but was defeated in the primary.
During Hines' playing days, he participated in the 2014 Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, sponsored by the Bitcoin payment processor BitPay. The game's logo included an orange circle with a white "B", a symbol commonly used to represent cryptocurrency.
Shortly after that game, Hines made his first Bitcoin purchase and then began investing in other crypto assets. He said, "Their marketing campaign was effective."
