White House NEC Director Hassett Held USD 1–5 Million in Vested Coinbase Shares at End of 2025

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, held vested shares in cryptocurrency company Coinbase worth between USD 1 million and USD 5 million at the end of 2025. A previously undisclosed 2025 financial disclosure lists the investment. Hassett served as a Coinbase adviser from 2021 until January 2025. The disclosure shows that nearly 11 months into Trump's second term, he had not fully exited the company. The document covers only 2025 and does not indicate whether Hassett currently still holds the shares. The White House declined to answer questions on whether Hassett still holds the shares or whether holding them prevents him from handling matters within his office's purview. White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement that Hassett has fully complied with all ethics requirements from day one and continues to do so, including recusing himself from all cryptocurrency-related matters. In June 2025, Hassett said he had not sold the shares, had received guidance from ethics officials, and had recused himself from any cryptocurrency-related matters.

In 2025, three days after Trump took office, a presidential working group on digital asset markets was established within the National Economic Council. Chaired by then White House crypto adviser David Sacks, the group proposed comprehensive regulatory reform for digital asset markets, banks, stablecoins and taxation. The administration also reversed Biden-era crypto policies, created a government bitcoin reserve and pushed Congress to develop a broader federal regulatory framework. The working group's final report listed Rob Colwell, deputy assistant to the president for economic policy, as the National Economic Council representative rather than Hassett.

Trump reported more than USD 1.4 billion in 2025 revenue from family cryptocurrency businesses, including through Trump-linked World Liberty Financial. Coinbase's share price has fallen since Trump returned to the White House. Coinbase has been a key participant in the industry's push for a new federal regulatory framework. More than a month into Trump's term, the US Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed its enforcement lawsuit against Coinbase in a manner that barred the same claims from being brought again. The agency said the move was intended to advance its broader cryptocurrency regulatory reform and was not based on an assessment of the merits of the case. In 2023, the case alleged that Coinbase operated an unregistered securities exchange and failed to properly register its crypto staking program.

Coinbase was a major financial backer of the Fairshake super PAC and its affiliates in the 2024 elections. Crypto groups have continued to spend heavily ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, pressing Congress to pass new digital asset rules. Coinbase has pledged to spend another USD 25 million before the 2026 midterms. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has met repeatedly with Trump and senior White House officials. He attended the March 2025 White House crypto summit, met privately with Trump in March 2026, and returned to the White House in August 2026, when Trump urged Congress to pass the Clarity Act.