A new political action committee led by Tether executives has disclosed $11 million in initial fundraising, with the bulk coming from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's former firm.
When a political action committee goes silent for seven months after its formation, you might assume it quietly folded. Fellowship PAC did the opposite. The group emerged from the shadows this week with a first-quarter filing that stops just short of a declaration of war on crypto regulation, backed by a who's who of stablecoin power brokers.
Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial services powerhouse built by current U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, contributed $10 million to the committee. Anchorage Digital chipped in another $1 million. That $11 million war chest is now being deployed across a very specific battlefield: Republican primary races in Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Nebraska.
Lutnick divested his stake in Cantor Fitzgerald to his children before joining the Trump administration, a move meant to satisfy federal ethics requirements. Whether that arrangement creates sufficient distance is now a matter of public debate. The firm retains an ownership interest in Tether and safeguards a substantial portion of the stablecoin issuer's reserve assets. Meanwhile, Fellowship is chaired by Jesse Spiro, Tether's Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, and its leadership includes Jonathan Jachym, Tether's Head of Government Affairs. The organizational chart reads less like a grassroots political effort and more like a corporate subsidiary.
This is not the crypto industry's first foray into political spending. Fairshake, the bipartisan PAC backed by Coinbase and Ripple, has raised over $193 million to support pro-digital asset candidates across the aisle. Fellowship operates with a different playbook. Every endorsed candidate is a Republican. The spending pattern suggests an effort to shape the GOP's crypto flank specifically, rather than court broad bipartisan support. Industry researcher Molly White noted that $850,000 flowed toward Nate Morris' primary challenge against incumbent Andy Barr in Kentucky, while $350,000 backed Senator Pete Ricketts in Nebraska.
Following the Money Trail
Where the money goes after the PAC is equally telling. Fellowship funneled $4.5 million to NXUM Group, a firm co-founded by Bo Hines, who previously directed Trump's crypto advisory council and now serves as CEO of Tether US. Of that amount, $3 million is earmarked for issue advocacy advertising, with the remaining $1.5 million allocated to ad production for three campaigns. As BeInCrypto reported, the PAC has also booked ad time through Muscular Front Media, a company founded by Tether US CEO Paolo Ardoino. The result is a remarkably closed loop: Tether-affiliated executives run the PAC, Tether-affiliated firms receive the advertising contracts, and Tether's primary financial custodian provides the funding.
The broader context matters here. The crypto industry has amassed roughly $263 million for the 2026 midterms, a figure that puts it on track to outspend traditional lobbying heavyweights like Big Oil. A Solana-backed PAC has already committed $8 million to defeat Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, one of the Senate's most vocal crypto skeptics. What makes Fellowship different is its narrow focus on stablecoin interests and its direct connection to a sitting Cabinet member's financial network.
For investors and entrepreneurs building in digital assets, this development carries a clear implication. The industry's political infrastructure is no longer limited to broad-based coalitions lobbying for general regulatory clarity. Individual companies and sectors within crypto are now building dedicated political machines to protect their specific business models. Tether, which has long operated under scrutiny regarding its reserves and transparency, appears to be betting that political influence is the most effective shield against future enforcement actions or restrictive stablecoin legislation.
The risk is fragmentation. If Fairshake pursues bipartisan access while Fellowship pushes a partisan strategy, the crypto lobby could find itself working at cross-purposes. Lawmakers who receive support from one group may be reluctant to associate with the other, particularly if Fellowship's ties to Lutnick become a liability rather than an asset. Watch for whether the PAC's $3 million in planned advertising actually moves voters in those Republican primaries. That will tell you whether this money buys influence or just headlines.
