David Sacks to step down as ‘crypto czar’… to serve as co-chair of Trump’s tech advisory council

David Sacks, the ‘AI and crypto czar’ who has been shaping the Donald Trump administration’s virtual-asset (cryptocurrency) policy, is stepping down from the post. Sacks is set to serve as co-chair of the newly created President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), replacing his role as a White House special adviser, and will oversee a technology-dominance strategy built on public-private cooperation.

According to Cointelegraph on the 26th (local time), Sacks said he would resign as AI and crypto czar. The decision comes just one day after President Trump nominated him as a PCAST co-chair. Going forward, Sacks will lead PCAST alongside Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Chaired by Sacks, PCAST is the top-level external advisory body tasked with securing U.S. leadership in advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual assets. The latest advisory panel includes a lineup of Silicon Valley big-tech chiefs, including Jensen Huang (Nvidia), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Lisa Su (AMD), Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Sergey Brin (Google).

In addition, prominent virtual-asset VC figures such as Marc Andreessen (a16z) and Fred Ehrsam (Paradigm) have also been included, suggesting policy continuity for virtual assets will be maintained.

Chair Sacks stressed that he would “work with 13 of the world’s most accomplished leaders to develop policy recommendations to ensure America’s technology leadership.”