Tether's Ties to Trump Administration Figures Raise Scrutiny Over GENIUS Act

The GENIUS Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in July 2025, introduced the first federal framework for stablecoins in the United States. One of its key provisions allowed foreign issuers to operate under a comparable regulatory system in their home country, rather than being directly supervised by U.S. authorities.

This provision could benefit Tether, which is establishing its headquarters in El Salvador and has been given a three-year grace period before non-compliant stablecoins can no longer be offered through U.S. trading platforms.

According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the negotiations said former White House digital assets official Bo Hines treated the three-year period as non-negotiable due to Tether's demands for more time. Hines later became chief executive of USAT, a stablecoin created by Tether to comply with U.S. rules.

Tether's connections to Trump administration figures extend beyond the stablecoin negotiations. The company invested $775 million in Rumble, a video and cloud-services company with commercial and investor links to several Trump associates.