INX Digital Company, a publicly traded crypto exchange in Canada, is set to finalise its merger with fintech firm Republic on 8 October 2025 in a deal worth up to $60 million that will trigger direct cash payouts to INX token holders — and U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth may be among the beneficiaries. An April 2018 SEC filing disclosed that 100,000 INX tokens were granted to Hegseth as part of his appointment to the company's advisory board, while a 2019 filing stated he was given the option to purchase an additional 100,000 tokens at $0.01 each.
Following the merger, INX will liquidate a $34 million cash reserve fund and distribute the proceeds pro rata to token holders, with the token currently trading at approximately 35 cents, placing the value of 100,000 tokens at roughly $35,000. Hegseth's December 2024 financial disclosure listed millions of dollars in income, including a $4.6 million Fox News salary, up to $1 million from a Baltimore rental property, and a Coinbase wallet containing between $5,000 and $15,000 in Bitcoin according to Yahoo Finance, though The Nation reported the figure as up to $50,000, with no mention of other crypto tokens. The Senate confirmed Hegseth by a 50-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the deciding ballot. Hegseth has publicly championed cryptocurrency: during Coinbase's 2021 IPO he described it as the tip of the iceberg for crypto adoption, and in November 2024, as Bitcoin surged past $80,000 for the first time, he declared that Trump is making Bitcoin great again, adding that all it took was signalling to the market that there would be no overregulation. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Nation that Hegseth divested from all cryptocurrencies before taking office.
Hegseth is among the highest-ranking U.S. officials to have publicly held cryptocurrency, and his case highlights transparency questions surrounding political officeholders' digital asset interests, particularly as the U.S. government shifts towards a more crypto-friendly regulatory stance.
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