David Sacks as A.I. & Crypto Czar? Why the Industry Was Surprised

Donald Trump’s announcement on Truth Social Thursday night that investor and podcaster David Sacks would serve as the White House A.I. and Crypto Czar shocked the industry, which had expected a White House role dedicated to crypto alone. According to the announcement, Sacks will lead a Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology, implying that Trump has also modified plans for the dedicated crypto advisory council promised at the Bitcoin 2024 conference this summer to include other tech industry sectors.

“David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness,” the Truth Social post read. “He will safeguard Free Speech online, and steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship. He will work on a legal framework so the Crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the U.S.”

Sources active in crypto policy circles who spoke to Unchained under the condition of anonymity expressed surprise, many having thought that Trump was still undecided as to whether to have a crypto czar at all. However, many reacted positively on social media, arguing that by combining the topics of crypto and AI, Trump has given a gift to the crypto industry.

“Crypto is elevated to a crazy degree with an AI pairing under an alpha dog of tech,” said Messari founder Ryan Selkis on X.

“David Sacks’ unparalleled track record as an entrepreneur, investor, and innovator makes him uniquely suited to lead U.S. crypto policy at a pivotal moment in the industry’s evolution,” Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith said in a statement.

From PayPal Mafia to Crypto Supporter

David Sacks is the co-founder of the early-stage Venture Capital firm Craft Ventures and was an early employee at Confinity, which later became PayPal. Because of his prescient work in the fintech sector, Sacks has become a prominent voice in Silicon Valley. Close friends with other members of PayPal’s founding team such as serial entrepreneur Elon Musk and venture capital investor Peter Thiel, Sacks has for several years exerted influence over tech industry political thinking and has climbed the ladder in right wing political circles more broadly.

Sacks has also expanded his public profile as a co-host of the “All-In” podcast, in which he and other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and investors Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg discuss various tech, social, and political topics. All-in is the 226th most popular podcast on Apple Podcasts generally, according to Chartable, and the third most popular technology podcast, demonstrating its outsized popularity in the tech industry specifically. Trump surrounded himself with tech investors and entrepreneurs as he shaped his campaign.

On the podcast, Sacks often serves as a defender of Donald Trump and GOP ideas, and has been generally supportive of crypto. For example, Sacks described the mixed court ruling that XRP was not a security when sold on a public exchange, but was a security when sold to institutional investors, as a win for the crypto industry as a whole.

He has been called a “Solana Bull,” having invested in early Solana investors Multicoin Capital in 2018 and having said on All-In in 2023 that he did not sell SOL after the collapse of FTX. His firm, Craft Ventures, has invested in crypto firms BitGo and Bitwise. However, Sacks is not broadly considered a crypto-focused investor or entrepreneur and is not an active participant in crypto policy circles or the crypto conference circuit.

The Crypto Industry’s Mixed Reactions

As of Thursday morning, sources working in crypto policy who spoke to Unchained thought an announcement of a crypto czar or an advisory council was weeks away, questioning whether the roles would exist and whether they would be White House staff roles or more ceremonial in nature and tangential to the administration.

They had for several weeks considered candidates for either position to be large donors working in the crypto industry who had met with Trump at various crypto and tech roundtables over the past several months. Names that have been floated for crypto czar or advisory council roles include Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Brian Armstrong, or executives from bitcoin mining firms like Riot Platforms.

The broad understanding was that either a czar or advisory council would be dedicated to crypto, and Trump’s combination of crypto with other tech topics like AI in his announcement came as a surprise.

Fox Business had reported that former CFTC Chair Chris Giancarlo, affectionately nicknamed “Crypto Dad” by the industry, was a finalist for the crypto czar position, though some sources who spoke to Unchained were skeptical that he was a real contender and surmised the widespread rumors were only a product of his own jockeying for the position.

Two sources had also suggested to Unchained shortly after the election that Blockchain Association Director of Government Relations Ron Hammond, though his name had not been raised as a serious candidate in interviews since. It is unclear how seriously any alternatives to Sacks were formally vetted by the Trump-Vance transition team.

But Can Sacks Own Crypto?

Unchained first reported that a White House staff role specializing in crypto was being considered, but that an Office of Government Ethics (OGE) rule prohibiting senior staff from owning crypto had complicated the process. The rule is technically a “legal advisory” ruling, meaning that though it is not itself a law passed by Congress it is meant to have the effect of law for official staff.

Sacks’ appointment raises questions about whether the role is possibly a non-government advisor position, which would exempt him from the rule, whether the Trump administration plans to somehow change or bypass the rule, or whether it would appoint a new Director to the OGE who would change the rule. A Craft spokesperson told Axios the role was “advisory,” like the Department of Government Ethics, and would thus not require Sacks to leave Craft. A Trump-Vance transition team spokesperson declined to answer questions about Sacks crypto holdings and directed Unchained to Trump’s public statement.

Leadership for The Digital Chamber, which published a letter addressed to OGE Acting Director Shelley Finlayson requesting the OGE rule be reconsidered, did not respond to immediate requests for comment, but told Unchained on November 21 that they had not received a reply.

Spokespeople for the Trump-Vance transition team and Craft Ventures did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Chris Giancarlo also did not respond to a request for comment.

(UPDATE: 12/6 AT 5:30 p.m.): This story was updated to say the Trump-Vance transition team spokesperson did not answer questions about Sacks’ crypto holdings.