Trump Advisor Discloses Up to $5M Coinbase Stock Holding

A newly revealed financial filing shows that National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett held between $1 million and $5 million in Coinbase shares at the end of 2025. This disclosure is raising eyebrows because the Trump administration was actively rewriting crypto regulations at the time. Hassett ran the very council that housed the administration's digital assets working group.

Hassett joined the White House in January 2025 after serving on Coinbase Asset Management's advisory council for nearly four years. While an executive order quickly set up a crypto working group to reverse Biden era policies, Hassett says he recused himself from crypto matters while ethics officials reviewed his holdings. He chose not to sell his shares to avoid the appearance of timing the market.

Ethics experts are still questioning the setup. Some argue that such a broad recusal would sideline one of the president's top economic advisors from a key policy goal. Although Hassett's deputy represented the council in the working group, critics wonder how much influence his holdings had on the broader economic policy discussions.

Meanwhile, Coinbase has a massive stake in how these policies turn out. The SEC recently dismissed its enforcement case against the exchange, and Coinbase executives have met frequently with top administration officials. Whether Hassett still holds his multi million dollar stake in 2026 remains unclear, but the disclosure highlights the tight links between Washington and the crypto industry.