Who is Bo Hines who led this week's White House Crypto Summit?

Author: Amrith Ramkumar, Wall Street Journal reporter

Compiled by: Luffy, Foresight News

When Donald Trump elected Bo Hines as a senior position in the cryptocurrency department in his administration, executives in the crypto industry were panicked.

After the appointment announcement last December, several executives recalled that they went to investigate Hines and found he was a former college football player and lost in the North Carolina congressional campaign, and that there was little background he had to do with Bitcoin.

Today, Hines, executive director of the President's Digital Assets Advisory Committee appointed by Trump, has become a liaison between the government and businesses and the U.S. Capitol Hill. The 29-year-old is actually the day-to-day 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 roles in setting a high-level agenda. They also added that they have been impressed by Hines’ knowledge of major policy issues in the industry so far. This Friday, Hines and the White House will host a cryptocurrency summit, inviting companies from the crypto industry to attend.

"I'm like a quarterback and make sure everyone on the field is on the right route," Hines said in an interview.

Hines is assisting the White House in pushing for bills to pass congressional reviews over the next five months, which outline how cryptocurrencies are regulated. He is evaluating the feasibility of establishing 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 at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, had met with Hines, who described Hines as taking the deadline set for Trump in the cryptocurrency executive order signed in January. "It's a tough problem that needs to be solved, and he's doing a good job in that," she said. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently dismissed a lawsuit against Coinbase.

The cryptocurrency industry has become a key player in Washington after investing heavily in Trump’s presidential campaign and inauguration, and donating about $170 million last year to elect friendly lawmakers. Trump expressed support for the industry and even launched his own Memecoin.

 Hines, who has been supported by Trump, runs for a House vacant seat in his hometown of North Carolina in 2022

Before joining the government, Hines led a "anti-awakening" media company. The company partnered with a cryptocurrency project that issued a Trump concept Memcoin whose value fluctuated significantly last year.

What many in the industry didn’t know when he was appointed was that Hines learned about the cryptocurrency industry while competing in a bowl sponsored by Bitcoin companies and has been investing in cryptocurrencies for nearly a decade since. To avoid conflicts of interest while serving in the government, he sold his cryptocurrency assets. He also studied cryptocurrency regulation issues in law school.

"He is one of the few who can take into account both the cryptocurrency space and Trump's philosophy of "making America great again," said Dan Spuller, senior director of industry affairs at Blockchain Association.

Critics say the desire to push cryptocurrencies to a more mainstream position may have drawbacks.

"If you start integrating cryptocurrencies into the financial system, you have to be very sure that there are protections in place to limit the damage that may be caused," said Sen. Tina Smith, Democrat of Minnesota. She has not met with Hines.

Hines will be at the heart of the debate over the regulatory legislation of stablecoins, a widely used cryptocurrency that is often pegged to government-issued currencies such as the US dollar.

Those bills that will draw the boundaries of the SEC and CFTC regulatory authorities are expected to spark a chaotic debate.

Companies also have differences regarding the national digital asset reserves. If the national digital asset reserves can bring new government purchases, this is seen as a potential benefit for the industry. Hines said the government first needs to count the crypto assets it currently owns.

Hines has considered replacing the presidential digital assets committee composed of industry executives with a series of summits in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump is expected to speak at the White House summit this Friday.

 In 2014, Hines, wearing the No. 82 jersey, was a wide receiver at North Carolina State University.

Before moving to Washington recently, Hines spent most of her life in North Carolina. Rugby is a sport in his family: his father played for the Detroit Lions briefly.

In 2014, the young Hines became an excellent wide receiver as a freshman at North Carolina State University, receiving many passes from Jacoby Brissett, who will play in the NFL in the future. He later transferred to Yale, where a shoulder injury ended his athlete career, before he went to Wake Forest University’s Law School to study questions about how the CFTC regulates cryptocurrencies.

Hines showed interest in the field, but was not an avid Bitcoin supporter, according to Raina Haque, a former professor at Hines. "He's not the kind of fanatic who treats cryptocurrencies as a panacea to solve all the problems in the world," she said.

In 2022, Hines ran for a House vacant seat in his hometown of North Carolina, echoing Trump’s claims about the stolen presidential election in 2020. Trump supported Hines, but he lost in a close campaign. His campaign comes from a trust fund and a political action committee founded by former FTX executives.

Hines has been criticized by Democrats for giving voters a hat made in China and calling for the "America First" economic agenda.

Hines ran for the House again last year but lost in the primary.

While playing at Hines, he participated in the 2014 Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl tournament sponsored by Bitcoin payment processor BitPay. The logo of the game includes an orange circle with a white "B" inside, a symbol commonly used to represent cryptocurrencies.

Shortly after that game, Hines bought Bitcoin for the first time and then began investing in other crypto assets. "Their marketing has played a role," he said.