US Crypto Czar Steps Down, Transitions to Broader Advisory Role

• David Sacks has stepped down from his White House crypto advisory role after hitting the 130-day limit, ending a short tenure that left key digital assets legislation unfinished. 
• He will continue advising the administration as co-chair of the new President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, focusing on a broader range of tech issues.

David Sacks revealed he’s finished his stint as US President Donald Trump’s top crypto and AI advisor, in light of a recent announcement that the former ‘crypto czar’ will co-chair a new council tasked with shaping US innovation policy.

Sacks told Bloomberg on March 27 that he’d reached the allowed limit for being retained by the White House as a ‘special government employee’ (SGE).

“In the first year of the Trump administration I had a role as an SGE. I had 130 days, we’ve now used up that time,” Sacks said.

Sacks is a prominent entrepreneur and venture capitalist, part of the so-called ‘PayPal Mafia’. He’s been a driving force behind the crypto market structure bill (a.k.a. CLARITY Act), which has yet to be passed into law and is still being hotly debated. 

In January, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson called for David Sacks to resign if the CLARITY Act hadn’t passed within the first quarter of 2026, due to “utterly failing” the crypto industry.

Related: US Senate Eyes April Vote on Landmark Crypto Market Structure Bill

Sacks was appointed on March 26 as Co-Chair of the new President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and said the new role would be how he would be involved in the administration going forward.

I can now make recommendations on not just AI but an expanded range of technology topics.

David Sacks, Co-Chair PCAST

Thirteen tech leaders were tapped on the shoulder to join PCAST, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — and from the crypto sector, Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam. 

The panel is designed to gather evidence and make policy recommendations on science, technology, and innovation policy. Sacks said topics of interest to the group would include artificial intelligence (AI), advanced semiconductors, quantum computing and nuclear power.

Related: Trump Taps Zuckerberg, Huang, and Coinbase Co-Founder for Revamped Science Council

Sacks Pushes National AI Controls

Sacks told Bloomberg that PCAST would push forward the President’s recently released National AI Legislative Framework. Non-partisan US think tank Brookings said the AI Framework “signals a troubling shift away from safe, accountable AI toward rapid, private-sector-driven deployment.”

Sacks argues it’s essential to “create one rulebook for AI in the US.”

The problem that we’re seeing right now is that you’ve got 50 different states regulating this in 50 different ways, and it’s creating a patchwork of regulation that’s difficult for innovators to comply with.

David Sacks, Co-Chair PCAST

“I think there’s actually a very good chance that you’ll see Congress now act on this framework and will get some meaningful legislation again,” Sacks said.

It’s a familiar line from Sacks — he’s thought to have largely written a Presidential executive order signed in November 2025 to block US states from regulating AI — something that Sacks’ Silicon Valley peers, including OpenAI execs, had been loudly clamouring for. 

At the time, Sacks said a single federal standard was essential to avoid a state-based “confusing patchwork of regulation.” Whereas Democrats called it a move designed to curry favour with Big Tech CEOs.

The post US Crypto Czar Steps Down, Transitions to Broader Advisory Role appeared first on Crypto News Australia.