President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday night that former PayPal executive David Sacks will serve as the “White House AI and Crypto Czar,” a newly created position aimed at advancing U.S. policy in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.
In two posts on Truth Social, Trump described Sacks as a key figure in shaping the future of American innovation and competitiveness.
“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. David will also lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology.”
Sacks, 52, a South African-born entrepreneur, was PayPal’s chief operating officer and was part of a group of prominent Silicon Valley figures who worked at the payment processor in its early years. He co-founded the venture capital firm Craft Ventures and launched Yammer, an enterprise software company acquired by Microsoft for $1.2 billion in 2012.
Sacks will join other Trump appointees tasked with shaping a crypto-friendly policy environment, including Paul Atkins, a crypto advocate tapped to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. The administration’s approach is expected to include the formation of a crypto advisory council and reforms at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Trump lauded Sacks’s track record as a successful entrepreneur and investor.
The president-elect announced the nomination as Bitcoin surged past $100,000 for the first time on Wednesday. Trump, who once dismissed cryptocurrencies as a scam, has pivoted to championing them as central to his economic strategy. During his campaign, he pledged to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and to establish a national bitcoin reserve.
