David Sacks, a prominent advisor on AI and cryptocurrency during President Donald Trump’s administration, along with his venture capital firm, Craft Ventures, has recently divested a substantial $200 million in digital asset holdings.
According to reports, referencing a memo from the White House, Sacks and Craft Ventures have completely liquidated their crypto portfolio—including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL)—prior to Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
This information was released on March 5 by White House counsel David Warrington.
Among the assets sold were Sacks’ shares in Coinbase and Robinhood, as well as his limited-partner interests in crypto investment firms Multicoin Capital and Blockchain Capital.
Craft Ventures mirrored this move, disposing of its interests in both Multicoin Capital and Bitwise Asset Management.
Consistently, Sacks has asserted that he is no longer involved in cryptocurrency—especially since taking on the role of crypto advisor. He even directly addressed the topic on March 3 in a response to a tweet from venture capital journalist George Hammond.
“Correct. I sold all my cryptocurrency (including BTC, ETH, and SOL) before I began my work in the administration,” he clarified on X (formerly Twitter).
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has been urging Sacks to make his financial disclosures accessible to the public. By selling off his crypto assets before assuming his advisory position, Sacks is evidently working to eliminate any potential conflict of interest.
However, Trump’s history in this arena presents a more complex picture.
Possible conflicts of interest
On the verge of his inauguration, Trump introduced his own memecoin, Official Trump (TRUMP)—a token lacking any practical utility. Nevertheless, it attracted a devoted following, briefly soaring to a valuation of $15 billion.
Unfortunately, those investors incurred massive losses, as Official Trump has since plummeted approximately 83.5% from its peak value.
A recent investigation revealed that the project raised at least $350 million within the first three weeks of its launch. Despite assertions that it “is not distributed or sold by Donald Trump or his affiliates,” it appears the primary supporters of the memecoin are actually Trump’s subsidiary, CIC Digital, and Fight Fight Fight LLC, which control a striking 80% of the token.
But Trump’s ventures in the crypto sphere didn’t stop there. Last September, he launched World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance platform promoting the WLFI token. Reports indicate his sons—Eric, Don Jr., and Barron—are also involved in the initiative.
This week, World Liberty Financial successfully raised $550 million during a token sale, bringing its total funding to nearly $600 million. According to data from ICO Drops, the platform has sold over 24 billion WLFI tokens, leaving approximately 950 million tokens still available for purchase.
Notably, on March 6, Trump signed another Executive Order aimed at establishing a U.S. Bitcoin reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile. At that time, Sacks played down the inclusion of altcoins in the proposed stockpile.
Potential collaboration with Binance?
Binance is reportedly discussing a potential financial stake sale in its U.S. operations with Trump and/or World Liberty Financial. These conversations are said to have started as Binance seeks to reestablish its foothold in the U.S. market.
It remains uncertain whether the stake sale would be related to a possible pardon for Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Recall Binance’s recent regulatory issues, including allegations of money laundering and other violations, while operating without a formal headquarters.
Under the Trump administration, cryptocurrency firms like Binance could benefit from less stringent regulation. The current leadership appointed by Trump at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has already halted several investigations into crypto companies, including Binance, that had been initiated during President Biden’s administration.