Trump crypto czar Sacks sells over US$200 million in investments

At least US$85 million of the more than US$200 million in divestments was attributable directly to Sacks, the memo said, adding that the sales came “at a significant tax cost” because special government employees like Sacks are not entitled to deferments of capital-gains taxes.
The disclosures were made in the memo that provides Sacks with a waiver from conflict-of-interest regulations in order to serve as Trump’s special adviser, or czar, for AI and crypto, a role designed to help guide the president’s digital-asset policies. Sacks was also named as chair of the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets. He joined a slate of ultra-wealthy people who have secured influential seats in the new administration. The combined net worth of 12 of Trump’s richest appointees is nearly US$400 billion.
Trump, a critic of crypto during his first term who went on to become a vocal supporter during last year’s campaign, already has delivered a handful of wins to the digital-asset industry over the first two months of his administration. Roughly two dozen crypto-industry executives attended a White House summit last week and Trump signed an executive order calling for the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate stockpile of other digital assets. The Securities and Exchange Commission has dismissed about a dozen legal actions against crypto companies since former Chair Gary Gensler resigned when Trump took office.