Trump Appoints Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Sacks as White House AI Encryption Czar, Potential Collaboration with Musk Expected
US President-elect Trump announced earlier that he would establish the position of White House AI Crypto Tsar, specifically responsible for AI and cryptocurrency-related policies, and coordinating federal policies and government applications in emerging technology fields. On December 5th, Trump announced through his social platform Truth Social that he would appoint well-known venture capitalist David Sacks, who was once a member of the “PayPal Mafia” to take on this important role.
David Sacks appointed as the first White House AI Crypto Tsar
In his post, Trump stated, “Sacks will formulate AI and cryptocurrency-related policies for this administration, which is crucial to ensuring America’s future competitiveness.” Trump emphasized the need for the US to establish a world-leading position in these two areas, and Sacks will be a key driver in achieving this goal.
In addition to serving as the White House AI Crypto Tsar, Sacks will also lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology, demonstrating the Trump team’s emphasis on the development of emerging technologies.
Silicon Valley supporter rehired, Sacks has a strong background
Sacks was a key figure in Trump’s Silicon Valley fundraising activities, and has a close working relationship with Vice President-elect Vance. Sacks was a member of the “PayPal Mafia” and a prominent venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, with his venture capital firm Craft Ventures having previously invested in well-known companies such as Airbnb, SpaceX, and Coinbase. Not only is Sacks a long-time supporter of Trump, he also hosted a fundraising event in San Francisco last June to raise funds for Trump in the tech industry, garnering attention from the tech community.
Advocating for transparency in cryptocurrency policies, Trump reverses stance from first term
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly expressed support for cryptocurrencies, emphasizing the need for clear regulatory frameworks to promote industry development. This contradicts his previous stance in his first term criticizing cryptocurrencies as “unstable and elusive.”
One of the key points of appointing Sacks is to assist in formulating “clear legal frameworks” to make the cryptocurrency industry in the US “more competitive.” In the future, Sacks will communicate and coordinate between the White House, Congress, and relevant regulatory agencies to promote policy coordination, including cooperation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Collaborating with Musk, special government employee status for Sacks but must avoid conflicts of interest
Sacks may collaborate with Musk to promote AI technology innovation and applications. Musk, a key supporter of Trump, has his AI company xAI and chatbot Grok currently holding a place in the competitive AI industry. Members of the Trump cabinet believe that Musk’s innovative technologies in the AI field will complement Sacks’ policy planning, paving the way for AI development in the US together.
Similar to Musk, Sacks will enter the Trump team as a “special government employee,” serving for up to 130 days a year without having to report or sell personal assets, but must avoid conflicts of interest in relevant issues.
Sacks previously expressed optimism about the 0x protocol, which saw a 34% increase in value in a short period of time
Previously, in 2018, Sacks expressed his support for the 0x protocol ($ZRX) on Twitter. He pointed out that with the increasing number of tokens, relying solely on centralized exchanges was no longer sufficient to meet the demand for finding trading partners, requiring specialized protocols to address this issue.
Upon learning this news, Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, also congratulated Sacks on Twitter.
As Trump was appointed as the White House AI Crypto Tsar, the supported 0x protocol token ($ZRX) also saw a 34% increase in value in a short period of time.
