‘he Actually Has Juice’: Crypto, Ai Get A Key Ally In Sacks

Donald Trump is going all in on Silicon Valley.

The president-elect's choice of venture capitalist and podcaster David Sacks to serve as artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar puts an industry insider in prime position to help influence the federal government’s oversight of fast-growing sectors of technology and finance.

In selecting Sacks, Trump has sent a clear signal that his administration plans to follow through on promises to usher in business-friendly rules and regulations for AI and crypto. The czar position is only an advisory role, and its purview and its authorities remain unclear. But Sacks — a prominent tech investor and major Trump backer — has been critical of how President Joe Biden’s regulators have handled oversight over the last four years.

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee are touting the appointment as a sign of their influence. The panel led efforts to overhaul crypto legislation that stalled in the Senate despite garnering significant bipartisan support in the House.

“He’s obviously brilliant,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson, a South Dakota Republican who has helped to craft crypto-friendly legislation from his perch on the House Agriculture Committee. “I’m pretty excited, because I do think there’s a lot we have to get done in the AI and digital asset space — and, listen, David Sacks is a guy who knows how to charge forward.”

Trump is already showing that his administration will take a very different view of emerging technology than Biden's — less cautionary and more enthusiastic about fueling growth. The president-elect is also close to "little tech" — the venture capitalists and entrepreneurs who make up the Silicon Valley ecosystem — and Sacks' appointment is likely to add momentum to both of those efforts.

Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), who’s running to replace the retiring current Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), said in a post on X that he “look[s] forward to working with David and President Trump on driving our mutual priorities of bolstering innovation and ensuring America is the leader of these groundbreaking technologies.”

“The mere fact that the U.S. now has a crypto and AI ‘czar’ reflects the impact of” the panel, McHenry said in a post on X. “The era of regulation by enforcement is over.”

Sacks is likely to use his influence as czar to meet the demands of AI companies, which want to move the federal government away from comprehensive AI regulations while being given more certainty that their business dealings will not be prosecuted. He is also likely to be tasked with overseeing the federal response to the crypto industry’s long-standing calls for tailored rules from both Wall Street regulators and Congress.

In a post on Truth Social, which Sacks joined shortly after being tapped by Trump, the president-elect said that Sacks “will safeguard Free Speech online, and steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship” plus work to provide crypto “the clarity it has been asking for.”

Jacob Helberg, senior adviser to Palantir CEO Alex Karp, said he was “thrilled” to see his friend named as czar.

“Few people blend a deep understanding of these technologies with direct operational experience,” Helberg said. “He will be an asset to the administration and his selection reflects the President’s superb ability to attract top talent to the government.”

Sacks is a partner at the venture capital firm Craft Ventures. His investments over the years have included banner names such as Airbnb, Lyft and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. He is also a member of the so-called PayPal Mafia — a group of founders and former employees of the payments firm that also includes Musk and Peter Thiel.

In June, Sacks organized a fundraiser for Trump in San Franciscothat brought in several million dollars, including from many in the crypto and AI worlds — and impressed the president-elect with its grandeur. On Sacks' All In podcastthat same month, Trump complimented his house.

Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on House Financial Services’ crypto subcommittee, expressed concern that the selection of Sacks puts an industry cheerleader in a role that could use someone with a more middle-of-road approach.

“I just thought we might get someone who was a little bit more objective,” Lynch said in an interview. “There’s enough caution in that space that’s deserved that might be overridden by the president’s own interests as well. It seems to be all pushing from the same direction, and I’m not comfortable with that.”

But others on the panel, including Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), noted that Sacks may not have any real power over Trump's agenda.

"I welcome his pro-tech tendencies," Torres said in an interview. But "when it comes to crypto, the positions that matter most are the SEC and CFTC," and "it is unclear to me what impact a crypto czar would have on crypto policy."

A spokesperson for Craft said that the czar job is an advisory position and that Sacks will not be required to leave the firm. Neither Sacks nor the Trump transition team responded to requests for comment.

Crypto lobbyists see Sacks’ appointment as a win for the firms they represent. They describe him as an early and reliable ally of the $3 trillion digital assets market — and someone who will have more clout with Trump than others who were in talks for the position.

“The big thing that is great for the industry, is that he has a very large bully pulpit — and he actually has juice,” said one crypto lobbyist, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “David has all the most important people in his corner — himself included — and crypto will get appropriate attention as a result.”