Wikimedia Commons

Bo Hines ’18, a former Yale football player and two-time unsuccessful congressional candidate, recently completed his second month advancing President Donald Trump’s crypto agenda, despite having little prior professional experience in digital assets.

In January, Trump appointed Hines to serve as executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets, a newly created presidential advisory group. The council is chaired by entrepreneur and venture capitalist David Sacks, who is known as the White House AI and crypto czar.

“In his new role, Bo will work with David to foster innovation and growth in the digital assets space, while ensuring industry leaders have the resources they need to succeed,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Together, they will create an environment where this industry can flourish, and remain a cornerstone of our Nation’s technological advancement.”

Hines has reportedly said that much of the group’s early work has focused on countering what industry insiders have dubbed “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” an alleged crackdown by legacy banks on digital asset firms. According to the Republican-led House Financial Services Committee, Biden regulators issued vague regulatory letters that threatened banks if they pursued partnerships with digital asset companies. 

In early March, Trump, who has promised to make the United States the “crypto capital” of the world, signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The order transferred digital assets that were “forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings” to the Reserve, which will now seek to maximize their value. 

“We’re focused on making sure the [cryptocurrency] industry has what they need to thrive. This is an industry that’s been the victim of lawfare and unfair regulatory practices … specifically under the Biden regime,” Hines said in an interview with Fox News. “It’s absolutely imperative the United States leads the charge in terms of technological advancement for institutional financial markets, and that’s what we plan on ushering in.”

Hines was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and attended Charlotte Christian School before attending North Carolina State University to play for the NC State Wolfpack. In his first year, Hines was selected for the Freshman All-America team, the Freshman All-ACC — Atlantic Coast Conference — team and the Academic All-ACC team. 

Hines led the NC State team with 45 receptions and 616 receiving yards in his first year. He made nine catches for 85 yards versus Georgia Southern in a 24-23 win, as well as eight grabs, 103 yards and a touchdown versus No. 1 Florida State.

While at North Carolina State University, Hines appeared in the 2014 Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, which was sponsored by BitPay, a bitcoin payment processor. Around that time, Hines started to invest in crypto.

After his first year, Hines transferred to Yale in 2015, seeking more political opportunities. 

“Transferring was one of the toughest decisions I’ve made in my life,” Hines told the News in 2021. “I knew I wanted to go into public service and I felt the best way to learn more about politics would be to go up to Yale and challenge myself with some of the best and the brightest and surround myself with people in the academic community that I knew would challenge me.”

Hines only played in two games during his time at Yale due to shoulder injuries. In his sophomore year, he played in the first half of the season opener against Colgate, recording six receptions for 68 yards. However, he missed the remainder of the season before briefly returning against Penn, where he had five receptions for 66 yards in the first quarter.

In his junior year, Hines suffered a season-ending shoulder injury before the start of the season, preventing him from playing. As a result, he decided to retire from college football that year.

“It was very unfortunate that I had the injuries that I did, but after two back-to-back season-ending shoulder injuries, I felt like God was telling me to move in another direction in my life,” Hines told the News in 2021.

In addition to his brief tenure on the Yale football team, Hines served as co-president of the Yale Student Athletic College Council, or YSACC, and “worked to raise awareness for issues facing student athletes on campus.” Hines also launched a political commentary podcast, called “Bo Knows,” and held summer internships with both South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds and then-Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb.  

“Bo is a tremendous friend and athlete,” former YSACC president and teammate Jackson Stallings ’17 told the News in 2017. “His work ethic is unparalleled. It’s sad for both Yale and him that he was never able to have a healthy season for us.”

While at Yale, Hines “felt solidarity with most of [the] folks” in the economics department, whom he considered “more conservative.” He also enjoyed “the opportunity to have … debates and free exchange of ideas” on campus, especially with those from other political backgrounds.

After graduating Yale, Hines attended Wake Forest University School of Law. While still a student there, Hines, who studied crypto regulatory issues, mounted a congressional campaign as a Republican candidate in North Carolina’s 5th District. His campaign received an endorsement from President Trump.

In a statement, Trump referred to Hines as “proven winner both on and off the field” and an “unwavering America First patriot.” He called Hines “a fighter for Conservative values” and offered him a “Complete and Total Endorsement.”

Hines won his primary in 2022, beating out a dense field of other Republican candidates. He ultimately lost the election to Democrat Wiley Nickel, but that did not dissuade him from launching a second congressional campaign in 2023.

That time, however, Hines came in fourth place in the primary. He also failed to receive support from Trump, who instead endorsed Addison McDowell, the winner of the election.

After working on his campaigns, Hines reportedly led an “anti-woke” company and worked on a Trump meme token “that surged and plunged in value” in 2024. 

The Yale football program was founded in 1872.