US President-elect Donald Trump has nominated David Sacks for the role of so-called ‘czar’ in the fields of AI and digital assets.
“In this important role, David will lead the administration’s policy on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, two areas crucial for America’s future competitiveness,” the politician stated.
One of Sacks’s tasks will be to work on the regulatory framework for the digital assets industry. He will also head the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
The nominee is a co-founder and general partner of the venture firm Craft Ventures. Its portfolio includes BitGo, Bitwise, and Lightning Labs. In March 2018, he joined the board of directors of MultiCoin Capital, a well-known investor in the crypto space.
Sacks was the COO of PayPal, where he worked alongside Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.
He is part of the ‘PayPal Mafia’—an informal group of former employees and founders of the payment firm who later became founders and owners of several well-known companies, including Tesla Motors, LinkedIn, Palantir, SpaceX, YouTube, and Yelp. Sacks founded Geni and Yammer.
In late November, it became known that Trump’s team is considering creating a dedicated position in the administration focused on cryptocurrencies.
US presidents appoint so-called ‘czars’ to address high-priority issues. For Trump, digital assets are one of them, confirmed one of the candidates for this role, former CFTC head Christopher Giancarlo.
Earlier, the community included him among the contenders for the position of chairman of the SEC to replace the outgoing Gary Gensler.
The president ultimately chose former commissioner Paul Atkins for the role.