U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as Crypto czar David Sacks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Executive Director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets Bo Hines attend the White House Crypto Summit at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 7, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Bo Hines has no professional background in crypto. He earned his law degree three years ago from Wake Forest. He’s twice unsuccessfully run for Congress in North Carolina.
Now the 29-year-old former football player is wrapping up his second month as one of the leaders of President Donald Trump’s crypto agenda.
“We’re well on our way in delivering on the President’s promise to welcome in the golden age for digital assets,” Hines told CNBC in an interview this week. “And make the United States the crypto capital of the planet.”
Hines is repeating a high-level message Trump has been uttering since the waning months of his campaign last year, when he became the crypto industry’s clear choice to run the country. Hines is working under former venture capitalist David Sacks, who Trump tapped to be the first White House AI and crypto czar.
Hines said he and Sacks are working “hand in glove” to not only rewire crypto regulation, but to do it quickly.
“The president’s given us the authority to do that,” Hines said. “He trusts his advisors.”
Hines played wide receiver for North Carolina State’s football team, and has said his interest in digital assets began as far back as 2014, when he played in the BitPay-sponsored Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. N.C. State beat the University of Central Florida by a touchdown in the game, and Hines caught three passes.
Hines went to Wake Forest to pursue a law degree. He explored regulatory issues related to crypto and became a retail investor. He then turned his attention to public office, losing campaigns for Congress in 2022 and 2024.
But along the way, in the 2022 primary, Hines won the endorsement of Trump, who called the candidate a “proven winner both on and off the field” in a news release from his Save America PAC.
In late 2024, Hines was tapped by President Trump to lead his Council of Advisers on Digital Assets. Now, he’s tasked with helping steer national crypto strategy, under Sacks, with a promise to “move at tech speed.”
Hines said much of the group’s early work has focused on dismantling what industry insiders call “Operation Choke Point 2.0.” It’s how they refer to an alleged crackdown by legacy banks on digital asset firms.
“They were victims of lawfare for the last four years,” Hines said, referring to the Biden administration. “These are people that are doing nothing but helping our American economy grow.”
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On March 24, the group will hit its 60-day milestone — and deliver its first set of recommendations. Though Hines was light on specifics, he previewed a range of ideas under consideration, from proposals to scrap and rewrite outdated IRS rules to building up a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” through “budget-neutral” purchases.
“We view bitcoin as digital gold,” he said. “We want as much of it as we can possibly have for the American people,” he said. “And it’s not going to cost the taxpayer a dime.”
Hines floated one idea from the Bitcoin Act introduced by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., which involves using the unrealized value of U.S. gold reserves to acquire crypto.
“There’s a bunch of creative ways we could get into,” he said.
Hines added that, like Sacks, he’s fully divested from crypto, though he declined to say whether others in the working group would follow suit.
“I can only speak for our office,” he said.
However, Hines said he’s not concerned about Trump’s own crypto-related financial entanglements, which could pose very obvious conflicts of interest. Trump and his family have launched several memecoins, digital collectibles, and a yet-to-be-launched crypto bank.
“He engaged with those assets before he took office,” Hines said. The Trump memecoin was introduced during inauguration weekend. “He’s an American citizen. He has a right to engage in any market that he wants to.”
Hines lauded SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who was tapped to lead a new crypto task force, as well as leadership at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Regulators are already “on the ground making changes,” from throwing out lawsuits to rewriting enforcement rules, he said.
He’s also watching Congress, where a bipartisan Senate committee recently advanced stablecoin legislation, a move Hines called “monumental.”
“Stablecoins could usher in U.S. dollar dominance for decades to come,” he said. “It could alter the course of the way our financial markets work.”
A Thames Valley Police officer from the Police force’s Specialist Search Unit, accompanied by police dog Jack, carries out security searches outside of Windsor Castle in Windsor, on September 12, 2025, ahead of the State Visit by US President Donald Trump.
Jordan Pettitt | Afp | Getty Images
The U.S. and U.K are expected to sign a flurry of major new deals during U.S. President Donald Trump‘s state visit to Britain this week, seeking to kickstart a “golden age” of nuclear power.
Some of the multi-billion-pound agreements set to be inked include plans by U.S. and U.K. companies to build up to 12 advanced new modular reactors in Hartlepool, a port town in northeast England, and a push to develop data centers powered by small modular reactors (SMRs) in Nottinghamshire.
The cross-Atlantic partnership is hoped to generate thousands of jobs, speed up the process of building new nuclear power stations and unlock billions in private investment.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said the two countries were “building a golden age of nuclear” that would put them “at the forefront of global innovation and investment.”
The deal announcement reaffirms both the U.S. and U.K.’s embrace of nuclear power, particularly when it comes to fueling the energy-intensive data centers needed to train and run massive artificial intelligence tools.
X-Energy, a U.S.-based company aiming to develop high-tech nuclear plants, and British Gas owner Centrica said the Hartlepool plans would generate enough power for up to 1.5 million homes and create up to 2,500 jobs.
The companies also estimate the overall program could deliver at least £40 billion ($54.25 billion) in economic value.
The Sizewell A and B nuclear power stations, operated by Electricite de France SA (EDF), in Sizewell, UK, on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
U.S.-based Holtec meanwhile said plans to build advanced data centers powered by SMRs in Nottinghamshire would be worth around £11 billion. The project is set to be jointly developed by Holtec, EDF and Tritax.
SMRs promise to have smaller and lighter footprints than traditional power plants, potentially making them cheaper and quicker to build when they are fully commercialized.
Amazon and Google both signed deals last year to develop SMRs in the U.S., as tech giants increasingly turn to nuclear power to fulfill the growing energy demands of data centers.
‘A true nuclear renaissance’
Some of the other deals expected to be signed as part of the agreement, known as the Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy, include plans to establish the world’s first micro modular nuclear power plant.
“With President Trump’s leadership, the United States is ushering in a true nuclear renaissance – harnessing the power of commercial nuclear to meet rising energy demand and fuel the AI revolution,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said on Monday.
As it is low-carbon, advocates argue that nuclear power has the potential to play a significant role in helping countries generate electricity while slashing emissions and reducing their reliance on fossil fuels.
Some environmental groups, however, warn that the nuclear industry is an expensive and harmful distraction from cheaper and cleaner alternatives.
Greenworks’ latest 60V cordless chainsaw delivers performance that rivals many gas models, but without the harmful emissions or annoying pull cord. Whether dropping saplings, pruning thick limbs, or clearing up trails after a storm, this battery-powered tool is ready to work.
First released at last year’s CES show in Las Vegas, Greenworks’ 60V li-ion battery packs enough power for 100 clean cuts of the saw’s 16″ blade, and its lightweight, 12.5 lb. frame, tool-less chain tensioner, and automatic oiling system come together for convenient maintenance and easy-to-control power.
When it’s time to get to work, the chainsaw’s brushless electric motor can spin the chain at more than 10,000 rpm with (the company claims) about 20% more torque than a 42cc gas chainsaw for fast, confident cuts through hard woods while keeping noise and vibration to a minimum.
That low-noise and fume-free operation makes Greenworks’ chainsaws an upgrade for both the operator and the neighborhood.
“Greenworks is proud to offer comprehensive battery-powered solutions for everyone, from homeowners and outdoor enthusiasts to major commercial landscaping contractors,” Klaus Hahn, Greenworks’ President, explained at its launch. “These innovations further our company’s vision of building a more powerful future with clean energy, and they illustrate our tagline ‘Life. Powered. By Greenworks.’”
Greenworks 60V chainsaw specs
up to 100 cuts on a single charge with the included 2.5Ah battery on 4×4 wood
20% more torque and faster cutting than a 42cc gas chainsaw
no prime, no choke, no pull with no aggravating pull cord
2.0 kW (2.7 hp) max output
brushless motor provides more power, longer run-times, and extended life
The Greenworks 60V 16″ brushless cordless chainsaw, a 2.5Ah battery, and charger are available online for $299.99 – but it’s on sale for “just” $189.99 (or $192.49, with the 18″ arm) on Amazon through September 18th.
If you needed another reason to check it out, the company claims using the electric chainsaw instead of a gas unit saves as much carbon emissions as driving 11,000 miles.
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Heavy mineral and metals mining is one of the dirtiest industries on the planet, but Chinese equipment giant XCMG doesn’t think it has to stay that way. To prove it, the company has unveiled a sweeping pledge to electrify and decarbonize mining — and they’re dragging over 100 global partners with them.
Along with with 107 global industry partners from 26 countries, Chinese equipment brand XCMG has issued a Joint Declaration on Global Zero-Carbon Smart Mining, aiming to electrify, automate, and otherwise decarbonize international mining. The pledge addresses 12 key areas including electrification, autonomous operation, net-zero emissions, circular economy, technology sharing, international cooperation, and smarter maintenance strategies.
“As a global leader in zero-carbon smart mining solutions, XCMG is committed to addressing industry bottlenecks through integrating new energy equipment, intelligent control systems and full-lifecycle services,” said Yang Dongsheng, chairman of XCMG Group. “We have resolved the four core challenges of energy infrastructure, new energy equipment portfolios, smart mining management systems and financial support, aiming to help our customers achieving both business growth and environmental wins.”
It’s always great to see efforts like this to decarbonize. But those efforts mean millions of new equipment assets to replace the millions of existing diesel assets deployed currently.
With a strong hand in the autonomous haul truck race and ultra-competitive pricing to back their electric plays, it seems like XCMG is about to get serious as it expands its reach into the Western world. It’s no wonder the legacy brands are running scared and hiding behind the bogus “messy middle” propaganda!
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