NEW YORK — Fellowship PAC spent $300,000 on advertising to support Representative Ritchie Torres's reelection primary campaign in New York. This expenditure marks a change from the PAC's previous focus on Republican candidates.

Fellowship PAC processed its advertising expenditures for Torres's campaign through Nxum Group. Bo Hines co-founded Nxum Group and also serves as chief executive officer of Tether U.S., the domestic division of a cryptocurrency company headquartered in El Salvador. Hines previously served as executive director of the Council of Advisers on Digital Assets. The chair of Fellowship PAC holds the title of vice president of regulatory affairs at Tether, though Tether has not made direct financial contributions to Fellowship PAC.

Cantor Fitzgerald is the largest financial contributor to Fellowship PAC, providing a $10 million donation. Cantor Fitzgerald acts as custodian for billions of dollars in U.S. Treasury bills held on behalf of Tether. The sons of Howard Lutnick, who serves as Commerce Secretary, manage Cantor Fitzgerald.

Torres represents a congressional district in New York and co-founded the Congressional Crypto Caucus. He is also a member of the House Committee on Financial Services. Michael Blake is Torres's leading opponent in the primary election. Blake previously held the position of vice chair at the Democratic National Committee. The New York primary election for Torres's congressional seat is scheduled for June 23.

Fellowship PAC previously allocated campaign funds exclusively to Republican candidates, including public endorsements for Senator Lindsey Graham and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The PAC published a press release in September announcing its formation and crediting President Donald Trump with advancing policies to position America as the global cryptocurrency market leader.

Another group, Protect Progress, spent approximately $1.4 million on advertising for Torres. Protect Progress maintains an affiliation with Fairshake. Fairshake has received funding from the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Public polling data for the primary election indicates Torres leads Michael Blake in voter support.

No independent assessment of Fellowship PAC’s claims was available.