New President Donald Trump has a brand new crypto and AI “czar”: former PayPal COO David Sacks.
Trump announced Sacks' appointment Thursday in a post on Truth Social, Trump's social networking platform. “(Sacks) will work on a legal framework in order that the crypto industry receives the clarity it demands and might thrive within the U.S.,” he wrote.
Sacks, a member of the “PayPal Mafia“ is co-founder of Yammer, the inner communications tool that Microsoft acquired in 2012 for $1.2 billion. He can also be behind Craft Ventures, a VC fund that has backed startups like SpaceX, Reddit and ClickUp.
In an interview with CNBC in 2017, Sacks said he believes cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum fulfill PayPal's “original vision”: making a “database of cash” where payments never leave the system.
Sacks' views on AI and AI policy are less obvious, although his policies are generally decidedly right-wing and deregulatory, which may possibly mean a softer stance than the outgoing Biden administration favored.
