Hassett's Coinbase Stake Raises Conflict of Interest Concerns Amid Crypto Regulation Rewrite

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett held between $1M and $5M in vested Coinbase shares at the end of 2025, according to a previously unreported annual financial filing. This disclosure raises conflict-of-interest concerns due to the timing, as Hassett's council rewrote federal crypto regulation during his tenure.

Hassett served on the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, which proposed significant changes to digital asset regulations and reversed Biden-era crypto policies aligning with Coinbase's lobbying efforts. He claimed he recused himself from crypto matters while ethics officials reviewed his holdings, but his recusal remains unclear in scope.

The White House confirmed Hassett's recusal, declining to comment on whether he still owns the shares or how it affected his economic-policy work. Virginia Canter, a former SEC ethics lawyer, described the holding as a major conflict of interest or appearance of one, questioning whether Hassett could have been sidelined from key policy discussions.