Author: Tom Mitchelhill, CoinTelegraph; Compiler: Tao Zhu, Golden Finance
Donald Trump has appointed former college football player Bo Hines as executive director of the new administration’s newly formed “Crypto Commission.”
The U.S. president-elect said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Dec. 22 that Hines — the unsuccessful 2022 Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives — will become the executive director of the President’s Crypto Assets Advisory Committee.
Trump added that the new advisory group — dubbed the "Crypto Council" — will be led by his pick for crypto and AI czar David Sacks.
"In his new role, Hines will work with David to foster innovation and growth in the crypto asset space while ensuring industry leaders have the resources they need to succeed," Trump wrote.
In 2022, Hines ran for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in North Carolina as a Republican candidate but narrowly lost to Democratic rival Willie Nickell.
Hines and several other Republican candidates have received funding from the American Dream Federal Action Super PAC and other pro-crypto PACs.
Former FTX CEO Ryan Salam — currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for crimes including illegal political donations — reportedly donated $13.4 million to Republican candidates, including Hines.
Trump also announced the appointment of former Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) general partner Sriram Krishnan as senior AI policy advisor to the new committee.
“I am honored to serve my country and work closely with David Sacks to ensure continued American leadership in AI,” Krishnan wrote in response to his appointment on X.
The appointments reflect Trump's continued support for the cryptocurrency industry. During his presidential campaign, he pledged to make the United States the "world capital of cryptocurrency," raising millions of dollars from cryptocurrency industry executives to do so.
He has appointed other crypto supporters as key advisers, including billionaire Elon Musk.
On December 4, Trump nominated Paul Atkins, a pro-cryptocurrency businessman and former SEC commissioner, as chairman of the agency, a move that industry executives hope will weaken regulators' enforcement actions against the cryptocurrency industry.
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