David Sacks, Trump's Crypto Czar, Has Dumped $200M in Digital Assets to Avoid COI

To avoid potential conflicts of interest, Crypto Czar David Sacks, an advisor to President Donald Trump, has liquidated more than $200 million in digital-asset holdings.

To avoid potential conflicts of interest, Crypto Czar David Sacks, an advisor to President Donald Trump, has liquidated more than $200 million in digital-asset holdings.

The move comes as Sacks faced mounting criticism over his financial ties to the crypto sector and his advocacy for a bitcoin (BTC) strategic reserve. Sacks has been a subject of scrutiny on social media and from U.S. lawmakers, including the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, over his involvement in the digital-asset space.

A memo released by the White House now sheds light on how Sacks and his venture firm, Craft Ventures, took steps to mitigate any potential conflicts. The timing is interesting: the memorandum was released a day before Senator Elizabeth Warren’s March 6 letter.

In her letter, seen by CoinDesk, Senator Warren is demanding that Sacks confirms he no longer owns any digital assets, following his claim on X that he sold all his crypto.

“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, and whether people close to you ‘may have held positions and sold into the recent price surge.”

Key divestments made by Sacks and Craft Ventures include:

* Craft Ventures’ full investment in BitWise, a crypto index fund.

* Sacks’ personal holdings of bitcoin, ether (ETH), and solana (SOL), which he disclosed in December 2022.

* Craft Ventures’ investment in FTX, which went bankrupt in November 2022. Sacks previously disclosed this investment in 2021.

* An investment by Craft Ventures in Circle, the issuer of stablecoin USD Coin (USDC).

* Craft Ventures’ investment in Blockfolio, a cryptocurrency portfolio management app.

* Sacks’ and Craft Ventures’ remaining digital-asset holdings, which were liquidated in March 2023.

In total, Sacks and Craft Ventures have divested over $200 million in digital-asset holdings, with at least $85 million being directly attributed to Sacks himself. The divestments came at a significant tax cost, as special government employees, like Sacks, are not entitled to certificates of divestiture.