White House Confirms David Sacks Sold Over $200M in Crypto Before Assuming Role as Crypto Czar

Highlights:

• Sacks and Craft Ventures divested over $200 million in crypto assets before his role.
• The White House confirmed his divestment to prevent conflicts of interest.
• Sacks still holds minor stakes in BitGo and Lightning Labs through venture capital funds.

David Sacks and his venture capital firm divested over $200 million in crypto assets and related stocks before he took on his role as White House AI and Crypto Czar. The White House confirmed Sacks’ crypto divestment in a recent memo, stating it aimed to prevent conflicts of interest during his tenure as Crypto Czar. His role includes assisting the U.S. government in creating a federal crypto regulatory framework. The statement confirmed that $85 million of the total divestments was Sacks’ personal stake.

To avoid conflicts of interest, US cryptocurrency czar David Sacks has sold more than $200 million in digital asset investments, cleared his holdings in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW), and sold shares in Coinbase, Robinhood and some private…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 15, 2025

Sacks’ Crypto Divestments and Remaining Holdings

The divestments were completed before the President’s second term began on January 20. They included liquid crypto assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL), as well as positions in the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund. Sacks also sold his directly held stock in public companies Coinbase and Robinhood, along with shares in private digital asset firms.

Sacks sold his limited partner interests in crypto-focused investment funds like Multicoin Capital and Blockchain Capital. His firm, Craft Ventures, also divested its stakes in Multicoin Capital and Bitwise Asset Management.

Sacks still has some exposure to the digital asset industry through venture capital funds managed by Craft Ventures. He serves as both a general and limited partner in these funds. His remaining holdings include stakes in BitGo and Lightning Labs. These represent less than 2.5% and 1.2% of his total investment assets, respectively.

The memorandum was dated a day before Senator Elizabeth Warren urged Sacks in a March 6 letter to confirm he no longer holds digital assets. This followed Sacks’ claim in an X post that he had sold all his crypto.

Warren said:

“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.” 

Crypto Czar’s Role and Financial Adjustments

Since taking on his White House crypto role, Sacks has been a vocal advocate for various industry issues. He has emphasized the importance of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the need to avoid over-taxing the crypto sector.

Sacks couldn’t get tax relief as a special government employee. He started selling stakes in around 90 venture capital funds, including Sequoia, which might have small crypto holdings. The White House gave him a waiver to work on digital asset policies, even though he still had small crypto investments through Craft Ventures.

David Sacks was appointed as the White House AI and Crypto Czar on December 5. In this role, he agreed not to acquire new digital asset holdings during his tenure, which is limited to 130 days or fewer annually as a special government employee.