Trump hired a 29-year-old crypto guru to drive new policy

Since his appointment, Bo Hines has become a mini-celebrity in the crypto world—with CEOs, billionaire investors, and lobbyists vying for facetime.

Transcript

00:00Digital Assets Council Director Bo Hines.

00:03Good, Bo. Great job.

00:05Trump has really been trying to advance this idea to the crypto industry

00:10that after the Biden administration and its crackdown with Trump, the door is open.

00:19Bo Hines came in without a lot of history or background in the crypto industry,

00:24but is now probably the most powerful figure after David Sachs

00:27and actually shaping the future of what it might look like.

00:39As part of our reporting, we FOIA'd Hines' calendar

00:43and learned that he'd had meetings with dozens of executives, lobbyists,

00:49and folks in the crypto industry over the past few months.

00:51Just hearing all of the complaints and being able to channel that to members of Congress

00:57and to policymakers or regulators at different agencies

01:01to try and figure out what the future of crypto policy will be in the country

01:05and advance Trump's agenda.

01:07So I think that readers wouldn't be surprised to know

01:10that the first few months of the Trump administration has been slightly chaotic,

01:14especially with initiatives like tariffs.

01:16I would say that crypto has been an exception to that.

01:19It's been very well oiled.

01:20Most of his major goals that he set out in the campaign

01:22have already been achieved within the first few months,

01:25including making real progress in this legislation,

01:28which I think there was a lot of skepticism around.

01:30So what Hines has really meant for Trump

01:32is this figure that can meet with different crypto groups

01:37and basically say, I have Trump's ear,

01:39I represent the White House, and I'm here to listen to you.