Donald Trump appointed David Sacks, a 52-year-old Silicon Valley venture capitalist, as special advisor for AI and cryptocurrencies. A businessman with broad powers who will oversee the policies of the future administration in these strategic areas. The appointment, announced by the president-elect on his Truth Social platform, represents another step in the rapprochement between the Republican Party and the world of technology. Sacks, co-founder of the venture capital firm Craft Ventures, was an early Trump supporter, hosting a fundraiser at his San Francisco residence last June.
A “czar” and the “PayPal Mafia”
Trump did not specify whether the title ‘czar’, used in the post from your social network, has an official connotation. What seems certain is that the new advisor, a partial position for the moment, will have to coordinate policies on two especially sensitive fronts for the Trump administration: on the one hand, the regulation of cryptocurrencies, which the president-elect wants to make more favorable than the approach of the Biden administration, and on the other the supervision of the development of AI, an area in which the United States competes directly with China.
in the world techfew circles have had an influence comparable to that of the so-called “PayPal Mafia”, a group of brilliant entrepreneurs who began their careers in the digital payments company founded in the late 1990s. David Sacks is one of the most influential members, having served as COO until the company was sold to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Some Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have emerged from this group: Peter Thiel, co-founder of Palantir Technologies, Reid Hoffman, creator of LinkedIn; Roelof Botha, today managing partner of Sequoia Capital, and Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX.
After his experience at PayPal, Sacks built a successful career that led him to found several companies such as Yammer, a corporate communication platform that Microsoft acquired in 2012 for $1.2 billion. Before that, he dedicated himself to Hollywood producing the satirical film Thank You for Smoking (Thanks for smoking) in 2005, demonstrating interests that went beyond the world of technology.
The most significant turning point in his career came in 2017 with the founding of Craft Ventures, a venture capital firm through which he made strategic investments in several of Elon Musk’s companies, including SpaceX. “Sacks deepened his connection with Musk by backing several of the businessman’s companies, including xAI, X and SpaceX, through his venture capital firm”suggests Financial Times. An alliance that was also decisive in his approach to Trump was his financial support for the Republican magnate: organizing a fundraising event at his home in San Francisco last June with tickets of $300,000.
Musk is not the only Silicon Valley billionaire supporting Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. However, their donations amount to 75 million dollars, a figure that makes the efforts of other contributors seem ‘minuscule’.
The turning point of cryptocurrencies
The world of cryptocurrencies is preparing for a regulatory revolution under the leadership of the new official. Trump, who in his first term described bitcoin as a “highly volatile and based on nothing” value, underwent a complete metamorphosis during his 2024 election campaign. In the years since his first presidency, Trump has attended conferences on bitcoin, accepting donations in cryptocurrency and holding repeated meetings with executives from mining companies and crypto exchanges.
The effect of his election on the markets was immediate. In the middle of this week, bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 barrier for the first time in history, following the appointment of sector advocate Paul Atkins as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ). The election of Sacks further reinforces this pro-crypto orientation of the future administration. According to Reutersthe new czar will have to work in coordination with the future presidents of the SEC and the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)as well as a new advisory council dedicated to cryptocurrencies, to reshape US policy on digital currencies.
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