White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has disclosed owning between $1 million and $5 million in Coinbase shares while the Trump administration advanced policies affecting the U.S. crypto industry.
Summary
- Hassett reported between $1 million and $5 million in Coinbase stock at the end of 2025.
- The disclosure does not confirm whether he still owns the shares.
- Hassett advised Coinbase until January 2025, when he entered the White House.
- A former SEC ethics lawyer said the investment presented a serious conflict of interest.
Coinbase shares remained in Hassett’s disclosed portfolio
CNBC, citing Hassett’s latest annual financial disclosure, reported that the National Economic Council director held between $1 million and $5 million in Coinbase Global stock as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Federal disclosure forms report assets within value ranges rather than giving exact amounts. The filing, therefore, does not show the number of Coinbase shares Hassett owned or the precise value of the position.
Because the document only covers assets held through the end of 2025, it also does not establish whether Hassett retained, reduced, or sold the investment during 2026.
Before joining the Trump administration, Hassett served on Coinbase’s Academic and Regulatory Advisory Council from 2021 until January 2025. His relationship with the company ended when he entered the White House, according to CNBC.
An earlier disclosure reported in June 2025 had already placed the value of Hassett’s vested Coinbase stock within the same $1 million-to-$5 million range. It also showed that he had received more than $50,000 in compensation from Coinbase for advisory work.
Coinbase trades on Nasdaq under the ticker COIN, giving U.S. investors direct exposure to the country’s largest publicly listed crypto exchange. Changes in federal rules covering token trading, stablecoins, banking access and securities oversight can affect the company’s operations and its appeal to shareholders.
White House crypto policy gave the NEC a central role
Hassett’s investment has drawn attention because the National Economic Council helps coordinate economic policy across the administration, including decisions that can affect digital-asset companies.
Three days after President Donald Trump returned to office, he signed an executive order creating the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets. The group received instructions to develop proposals covering crypto regulation, stablecoins and a possible national digital-asset stockpile.
In January 2025, crypto.news covered the executive order, which also directed federal agencies to review rules affecting digital assets and recommend changes. Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal bodies received seats in the working group.
The executive order placed White House artificial intelligence and crypto adviser David Sacks in charge of the group. Although Hassett was not its chair, CNBC reported that the National Economic Council played an important part in developing the administration’s crypto agenda.
Policy work under the group extended to market regulation, access to banking services, stablecoin rules, and the tax treatment of digital assets. Each area carries possible financial consequences for Coinbase because the company operates a U.S. trading platform, provides custody services, and earns revenue from stablecoin-related activity.
Later in 2025, the working group published recommendations for federal agencies and Congress. The report called for clearer divisions of authority between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, federal legislation for digital-asset markets, and updated banking guidance for crypto companies.
Hassett says he has avoided crypto-related matters
Hassett told CNBC that he had stayed away from cryptocurrency matters after consulting government ethics officials. The White House also defended his conduct, saying he “has always and continues to fully comply with all ethical requirements.”
The available disclosure does not show whether Hassett received a formal waiver, sold the Coinbase position after December 2025, or placed restrictions on his ability to trade the shares.
Federal ethics rules generally require executive-branch employees to avoid participating personally and substantially in matters that could have a direct and predictable effect on their financial interests. How the rules apply depends on the employee’s duties, the type of government matter involved, and any recusal or waiver approved by ethics officials.
Former SEC ethics lawyer Shira Pavis Minton Kantor told CNBC that the size of Hassett’s holding represented a “significant conflict of interest” or, at minimum, created the appearance of one.
Her assessment concerned the overlap between Hassett’s financial exposure to Coinbase and the NEC’s role in policy discussions affecting the crypto sector. The report did not say that Hassett had violated a federal ethics law or participated in a specific decision benefiting the company.
Any finding of an ethics breach would require evidence about the matters Hassett handled, the steps he took to recuse himself, and the advice provided by White House ethics officials. The disclosed ownership alone establishes a financial interest but does not prove misconduct.
Coinbase has built a large role in U.S. crypto politics
Coinbase entered the Trump administration’s second term after spending heavily on U.S. political advocacy during the 2024 election cycle.
The exchange joined Ripple, Andreessen Horowitz, and other crypto companies in backing Fairshake, a bipartisan super PAC supporting candidates viewed as favorable to digital-asset legislation. A November 2024 report on Fairshake’s political funding said crypto businesses and investors had put millions of dollars into the PAC and its affiliates.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong described the 2024 election as a win for the industry, arguing that voters had elected what he expected to become the most pro-crypto Congress in U.S. history. At the time, Armstrong called for legislation that would set clearer rules for crypto companies and their customers.
Armstrong has also met Trump and other senior administration officials during discussions about digital-asset policy. Coinbase contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee, while its policy team continued lobbying Congress over market-structure and stablecoin legislation.
During Trump’s second term, federal policy changes directly affected the company. In February 2025, the SEC voted to dismiss its civil enforcement case against Coinbase, ending litigation that had accused the exchange of operating as an unregistered securities platform and offering an unregistered staking service.
The SEC said its dismissal was intended to support the agency’s work on a new regulatory approach and did not express a view on the merits of Coinbase’s legal arguments. Commissioners approved the dismissal with prejudice, preventing the agency from bringing the same claims again.
Coinbase had denied the allegations and argued that the SEC had failed to provide a workable registration route for crypto businesses. No penalty, admission of wrongdoing, or change to the company’s business model formed part of the dismissal.
