Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has demanded that David Sacks, President Donald Trump's Crypto Czar, prove he isn't "directly profiting off of the Trump Administration’s efforts to selectively pump the value of certain crypto assets."
The Massachusetts senator laid out her concerns about a conflict of interest in a 6-page letter she made public Friday morning, just hours ahead of a planned crypto summit at the White House.
Earlier this week, Sacks said he sold all his crypto assets before beginning in his role as crypto czar. He was appointed in early December.
Trump Appoints David Sacks as 'White House AI and Crypto Czar' to Oversee Regulation
President-elect Donald Trump has appointed venture capitalist David Sacks to oversee artificial intelligence and crypto policy initiatives for his second term, marking a significant shift in the U.S.'s approach to emerging technologies. Trump announced the appointment through his Truth Social platform on Thursday, positioning Sacks, co-founder of Craft Ventures LLC, to lead the newly created technology czar position. “I am pleased to announce that David O. Sacks will be the ‘White House A.I. & C...
"Despite your public statements via X, it remains unclear exactly when you personally divested from BTC, ETH, and SOL, when Craft Ventures divested from Bitwise," Warren wrote, referring to venture firm that Sacks founded, "and whether people close to you 'may have held positions and sold into the recent price surge.'”
Just last night, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a Bitcoin reserve. Sacks shared the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, promising that the effort would not "cost the taxpayers a dime.”
At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is sitting just above $90,000. The BTC price slid last night, sinking below $85,000, after the president signed his Bitcoin reserve executive order.
Bitcoin Price Slides as Crypto Market Reacts to Trump’s Strategic Reserve Order
Bitcoin extended losses Thursday, falling 5.7% in less than an hour as investors reacted to President Donald Trump’s executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The decline came after Bitcoin surged above $92,000 earlier in the week on speculation surrounding the initiative. But the rally has faded as traders take profits and reassess the market impact of the government’s new digital asset policy. Bitcoin has since rebounded slightly to $87,200, CoinGecko data shows. Ethereum lost...
The order authorizes the government to keep Bitcoin that's been seized seized in criminal and civil forfeiture cases—but it doesn't explicitly give the government permission to spend federal funds on buying BTC. While some investors see it as a long-term bullish signal, others remain wary of how the government plans to manage its holdings.
Ethical questions have broadly swirled around President Trump's crypto policies, and not just Sacks’ appointment.
Several Web3 industry players criticized the president's announcement last week that the U.S.’ strategic crypto reserve would include Bitcoin as well as four other cryptocurrencies. Crypto holders and executives demanded that the Trump administration clarify how each token was marked for inclusion in the reserve.
President Trump Signs Executive Order to Establish Bitcoin Reserve, Crypto Stockpile
The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve became reality on Thursday, as President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order authorizing the creation of the digital asset stockpile. White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks announced the news on X, claiming the initiative would not "cost taxpayers a dime.” “The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings,” Sacks wrote. In a bid to curry favor with the Bi...
Meanwhile, industry experts and lawmakers have raised ethical concerns over Trump's own foray into cryptocurrencies, including the launch of the president's meme coin, Official Trump, and the Trump Organization-owned DeFi project World Liberty Financial.
Sacks, a former PayPal executive, belongs to a close circle of executives that includes prominent Trump allies such as Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. Former President Joe Biden and political experts have raised concerns over the growing influence of tech moguls in President Trump's administration.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
