Bo Hines, a former Republican nominee for the House of Representatives, has been named by President-elect Donald Trump to be the Executive Director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets.

Per a Truth Social post from Trump, Hines will oversee a “new advisory group composed of luminaries from the crypto industry” and work alongside David Sacks, Trump’s pick for 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. “Together, they will create an environment where this industry can flourish, and remain a cornerstone of our nation’s technological advancement.”

Hines was the Trump-endorsed Republican House nominee in North Carolina’s 13th District in 2022, but lost the race to Democratic rival Wiley Nickel. During that race, Hines received backing from former FTX Digital Markets CEO Ryan Salame, who later went to prison for unrelated campaign finance law violations, among other charges.

The 29-year-old Hines ran again for the House this year in the state’s 6th District, but lost in the primaries, placing fourth among Republican candidates. He does not appear to have a substantial public history of making comments related to Bitcoin or cryptocurrency.

“Thank you, Mr. President! It will be the honor of a lifetime to serve in your next administration. Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for our country,” Hines wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Sunday. “I am thrilled to work alongside the brilliant David Sacks to ensure that this industry will thrive and remain a cornerstone of our nation’s technological advancement.”

Alongside Hines, Trump also named former Andreessen Horowitz venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as the Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Krishnan, who departed from the prominent VC firm in November, will also work closely with Sacks.

After 372 hours, Haliey Welch, better known as the Hawk Tuah girl, has finally woken from her slumber to announce she’s made some new friends—namely, the same law firm that’s suing her business partners over her failed meme coin project.

Sixteen days ago, Welch’s would-be meme coin debut, a Solana token called HAWK, imploded at launch, enriching an apparently interconnected web of early investors and leaving most retail traders in the lurch. That evening, Welch told an irate audience on an X Spaces that she was going to bed and would see everyone in the morning—before going radio silent for weeks on end.

On Friday, Welch broke that silence by announcing she is cooperating with the law firm that sued the HAWK token’s creators Thursday for allegedly violating American securities laws.

“I am fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter,” Welch said on X (formerly known as Twitter). 

A spokesperson for Welch told Decrypt that the influencer was “totally siloed” from the HAWK project and “had zero control over it.”

The spokesperson also asserted that Welch only received a fixed sponsorship fee for lending her likeness to the meme coin project, adding “there was no guarantee she would make any additional money from the meme coin thereafter.”

That story runs somewhat counter to one put forward earlier this week by the team taking responsibility for building most of HAWK. The crypto token launch platform OverHere said on Tuesday that it only took leadership over the doomed token because one of Welch’s associates, a mysterious figure known as “Doc Hollywood,” “vanished when things got hard.”

The OverHere team claimed it took zero fees from HAWK and made zero profit on the project, and pointed the finger at Welch and Doc Hollywood for an alleged lack of transparency.

The lawsuit filed Thursday against the project—by 12 American plaintiffs claiming to have suffered damages in excess of $151,000 from the project—listed OverHere as one of multiple defendants. It did not list Welch. 

Alexandra Roberts, a law professor at Northeastern University, told Decrypt that she has never before seen a situation like this—in which a celebrity such as Welch has actively aided a lawsuit aimed at a project the celebrity lent their likeness to.

“I think it’s a great PR move,” Roberts said. “I think she’s trying to get out in front of it and make a really clear statement: ‘Not only did I not know what was going on, but I want to advocate on behalf of the people who were swindled.’”

Burwick Law, the firm suing HAWK’s creators, told Decrypt that it does not represent Welch, but is in conversations with her counsel.

When asked why Welch was not listed as a co-defendant in the HAWK lawsuit, Max Burwick, managing partner at Burwick Law, said the decision was intentional, and hinted it might help make his clients whole sooner. 

“In this matter, we have chosen the strategy we believe to be most effective in helping our clients achieve meaningful results,” Burwick told Decrypt.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Worldcoin, the crypto-based digital identity project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is under scrutiny again as German regulators demand compliance with European Union (EU) data protection laws.

The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision’s (BayLDA) investigation focused on how Worldcoin’s flagship technology, the World ID, is compliant with GDPR standards, as per a Thursday announcement. 

BayLDA has ordered Worldcoin, now rebranded as World, to implement a GDPR-compliant data deletion protocol by no later than January 19.

The GDPR is a comprehensive EU law designed to protect individuals’ personal data and privacy, enforcing strict rules on how data is collected, processed, and stored.

“With today’s decision, we are enforcing European fundamental rights standards in favor of the data subjects in a technologically demanding and legally highly complex case,” said Michael Will, President of the State Office at BayDLA. “All users who have provided “Worldcoin” with their iris data will in future have the unrestricted opportunity to enforce their right to erasure.”

The World ID is generated through “Orbs,” devices that scan a person’s eyeball to create a unique digital identifier designed to verify that individuals are real people rather than bots.

However, BayLDA raised concerns over the “fundamental data protection risks” posed by processing such sensitive biometric data and its compliance with data protection rights.

Worldcoin voluntarily suspended some of its operations across EU countries during the inquiry and introduced updates to improve compliance.

The regulator flagged earlier phases of World’s data collection practices, which involved storing iris codes in centralized databases. 

These activities were deemed non-compliant with GDPR, leading to an order to delete all data collected without sufficient legal basis. World is now required to secure explicit consent for certain data processing steps.

Despite implementing cryptographic protocols that anonymize data by splitting iris codes into encrypted fragments, the BayLDA determined that further adjustments were necessary. 

Worldcoin has already received the German regulator’s decision and plans to appeal it, according to the agency’s statement.

World Faces Global Privacy Concerns

Worldcoin, launched in 2023, introduced a concept called “proof of personhood,” seeking to establish a vast network of users verified as humans rather than bots or AI algorithms. 

However, its vision quickly drew the attention of regulators worldwide.

Countries such as Kenya and Portugal temporarily banned the project over privacy concerns.

By October, Worldcoin transitioned to its new identity as ‘World’ and unveiled an updated version of its iris-scanning “Orb” device. 

These devices, with 30% fewer parts and triple the production capacity of its predecessor, were first deployed in Berlin, Germany, in July 2023. 

While the initiative gained attention for its innovation, it was equally criticized by privacy advocates who labeled the project as intrusive and potentially exploitative.

Shortly after the project’s launch, France and Germany initiated investigations into its biometric data collection practices. France’s privacy watchdog, CNIL, questioned the legality of the data collection and storage processes, calling them “questionable.”

World did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair