GuShiio.com Before joining the government, 29-year-old Bo Hines had been investing in the crypto space for nearly a decade.
Author: Amrith Ramkumar, Wall Street Journal reporter
Compiled by: Luffy, Foresight News
When Donald Trump selected Bo Hines for a senior position in the cryptocurrency sector in his administration, crypto industry executives panicked.
After the appointment was announced in December, several executives recalled that they went to investigate Hines and found that he was a former college football player who had lost a congressional campaign in North Carolina, but could not find any background related to Bitcoin.
Today, Hines, appointed executive director of the President’s Digital Assets Advisory Council, appointed by Trump, has become the liaison between the government and businesses, as well as Capitol Hill. The 29-year-old is actually a daily executor of the government’s plan to promote the development of the cryptocurrency industry, working with David Sacks, a well-known venture capitalist and head of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency affairs.
Crypto industry executives say Sacks has taken on more of the role of setting high-level agendas. They added that so far, they have been impressed by Hines ‘knowledge of key policy issues in the industry. On Friday, Hines and the White House will host a cryptocurrency summit to which companies in the crypto industry will be invited.
“I’m like a quarterback, making sure everyone on the field is on the right path,” Hines said in an interview.
Hines is assisting the White House in pushing bills outlining ways to regulate cryptocurrencies through Congress within the next five months. He is assessing the feasibility of building a national cryptocurrency reserve while playing a role in overturning the Biden administration’s regulatory actions against leading companies in the crypto industry.
Kara Calvert, head of U.S. policy for cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, who met with Hines, described Hines taking seriously the deadline set by Trump in the cryptocurrency executive order signed in January. “It’s a tough problem that needs to be solved, and he’s done a good job at it,” she said. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently dismissed a lawsuit against Coinbase.
After investing heavily into Trump’s presidential campaign and inauguration, and donating about $170 million last year to elect friendly lawmakers, the cryptocurrency industry has become a major player in Washington. Trump expressed support for the industry and even launched his own Memecoin.
Hines, who was once backed by Trump, is running for a vacant House seat in his hometown of North Carolina in 2022
Before joining the government, Hines led an “anti-awakening” media company. The company partnered with a cryptocurrency project that issued a Trump-concept Memcoin, whose value fluctuated significantly over the past year.
What many in the industry didn’t know when he was appointed was that Hines learned about the cryptocurrency industry while participating in a bowl game sponsored by Bitcoin and has been investing in cryptocurrencies for nearly a decade since then. In order to avoid conflicts of interest while serving in government, he sold his cryptocurrency assets. He also studied cryptocurrency regulation issues in law school.
Dan Spuller, senior director of industry affairs at the Blockchain Association, said: “He is one of the very few people who can balance the cryptocurrency space with Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ philosophy.”
Critics say the desire to push cryptocurrencies into a more mainstream status may have drawbacks.
“If you start integrating cryptocurrencies into the financial system, you have to be very certain that protections are in place to limit the damage that may be caused,” said Senator Tina Smith, Democrat of Minnesota. She has not yet met with Hines.
Hines will be at the heart of the debate on legislation regulating stablecoins, a widely used cryptocurrency that is often pegged to government-issued currencies such as the U.S. dollar.
Bills that would draw the line between the SEC and CFTC regulation are expected to spark a messy debate.
Companies also have differences on the national digital asset reserve. If the country’s digital asset reserve can lead to new government purchases, this is seen as a potential boon for the industry. Hines said that the government must first count the crypto assets it currently owns.
According to people familiar with the matter, in recent weeks, Hines has considered replacing the President’s Digital Assets Council, composed of industry executives, with a series of summits. Trump is expected to speak at a summit at the White House on Friday.
In 2014, Hines, wearing No. 82, was a wide receiver at North Carolina State University
Before recently moving to Washington, Hines spent most of his life in North Carolina. Rugby 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, receiving multiple balls from Jacoby Brissett, who would play in the NFL in the future. He later transferred to Yale University, where a shoulder injury ended his athlete career, and then entered Wake Forest University Law School, where he studied issues including how the CFTC regulates cryptocurrencies.
According to Raina Haque, a former professor at Hines, Hines has shown interest in the field, but is not an avid supporter of Bitcoin. “He’s not the kind of fanatic who sees cryptocurrency as a panacea for all the world’s problems,” she said.
In 2022, Hines ran for a vacant House seat in his hometown of North Carolina and echoed Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Trump supported Hines, but he lost in a close race. His campaign was funded by a trust fund and a political action committee founded by former FTX executives.
Hines has been criticized by Democrats for issuing hats made in China to voters while calling for an “America First” economic agenda.
Hines ran for a House seat again last year, but lost in the primary.
While playing at Hines, he participated in the 2014 Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl sponsored by Bitcoin payment processor BitPay. The competition’s logo includes an orange circle with a white “B” inside, a symbol commonly used to represent cryptocurrencies.
Shortly after participating in that game, Hines purchased Bitcoin for the first time and then began investing in other crypto assets. “Their marketing campaign worked,” he said.
