- Robert “Bo” Hines, the director of the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets, has stepped down.
- In eight months, Hines helped spearhead a pro-crypto regulatory push within the government.
- His accomplishments include repealing SEC rules and promoting legislation like the GENIUS Act.
Robert “Bo” Hines has stepped down as the head of President Donald Trump’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.
In eight months, Hines helped transform the landscape of American crypto policy. From the SEC’s crypto task force to the passage of the GENIUS Act last month, some of the most pivotal changes of recent months bear his stamp.
Bo Hines To Step Down
In a statement on X, Hines said that serving on the White House’s crypto council “has been the honor of a lifetime.”
Nodding to Donald Trump’s AI and Crypto Czar, David Sacks, he said: “Together, we have positioned America as the crypto capital of the world.
Post-government, Hines said he plans to return to the private sector. “I’m deeply grateful to the industry for its unwavering support—I love this community and all we’ve built together,” He added.
A Bonfire of Crypto Regulations
The White House Crypto Working Group was established by Executive Order shortly after Trump’s inauguration.
Working within the National Economic Council, the group brought together the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Commerce, and the chairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Among other things, the crypto council was tasked with identifying regulations, guidance documents, orders, or other items that affect the digital asset sector, and recommending whether they should be repealed or rescinded.
The day after Trump’s executive order, the SEC rescinded SAB 121—a contentious bulletin that required firms holding crypto custodially to book those assets as liabilities.
In the weeks and months that followed, it also rescinded all policies tied to Biden’s Executive Order 14067 for Responsible Digital Asset Development and the Treasury’s Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets.
The White House Crypto Report
Besides scrapping rules and regulations perceived to stifle the crypto sector, the President’s working group was commissioned to publish a report on digital assets offering more in-depth guidance.
Published in July, the White House Crypto Report made explicit what crypto advocates in Trump’s orbit and elsewhere had been saying all along: The SEC should have no jurisdiction over decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which should be left to the CFTC to regulate.
Other recommendations in the report are also geared toward removing the regulatory uncertainty that has plagued the U.S. crypto sector.
For example, it called for Congress to clarify how the Banking Secrecy Act applies to crypto assets. This would make it much easier for businesses to engage foreign crypto companies without fear of legal repercussions.
Discussing the report in a recent interview, Hines said Americans should expect additional guidance from the Department of Justice that will prevent excessive enforcement actions against crypto firms.
“I think that’s extremely important. Again, setting the ground rules and showing folks exactly what you can and can’t do,” he said.
No CBDCs in America
Trump’s Executive Order creating the White House Crypto Working Group called for “prohibiting the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use of a CBDC [Central Bank Digital Currency] within the jurisdiction of the United States.
From the outset, Hines took this remit seriously and has been a vocal opponent of CBDCs.
“We don’t want to even flirt with the line of a CBDC,” he said in in the interview.
“We don’t want Big Brother spying on American consumers. We feel extremely strongly that CBDCs should never exist,” he added.
With the Anti‑CBDC Surveillance State Act making its way through Congress, Hines’ wish may soon be granted in law.
The Act, which prohibited the Federal Reserve from testing, studying, developing, or implementing a CBDC, passed through the House in July and is currently pending consideration by the Senate.
Moreover, Hines said he believes the passage of the GENIUS Act “effectively accomplishes” the same goal. This suggests that with the government’s support, stablecoins will be able to meet the demand for digital dollars without the Fed having to issue its own.
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James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
