David Sacks, the White House AI and cryptocurrency affairs lead, rebuts The New York Times, which reported that his role as a government advisor could benefit him and his close partners' investments.
Sacks posted on X that despite having "detailed refuted" the relevant reports from the Times over the past five months, the media still published an article on Sunday about his alleged conflicts of interest.
"Today they clearly threw up their hands and then issued this nothing-burger article," Sacks wrote. "Anyone who reads the report seriously can see that they just strung together a bunch of anecdotes that do not support the headline."
Sacks is a co-founder and partner at the venture capital firm Craft Ventures, and his role as a special government employee at the White House has previously drawn scrutiny. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren stated in May that he "has financial stakes in the cryptocurrency industry, which could allow him to profit from the changes in cryptocurrency policy he is pushing at the White House."
Before taking on the role of cryptocurrency affairs lead, Sacks and Craft had exited over $200 million in cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency-related stocks, of which at least $85 million was held by Sacks himself, but Sacks still retains interests in several illiquid investments such as private equity in "digital asset-related companies."
The New York Times reported that an analysis of Sacks' financial disclosures shows he still holds 708 tech investments, of which 449 are related to AI and 20 are related to cryptocurrency, and these investments could benefit from the policies Sacks supports.
As an example of his role being viewed as conflicted, the media pointed out that Craft Ventures invested in the cryptocurrency infrastructure company BitGo, which provides "stablecoin as a service."
BitGo filed for an IPO in September, and regulatory documents show Craft holds 7.8% of the company.
The Times noted that Sacks is a key supporter of the GENIUS Act, which regulates stablecoins and was signed into law earlier this year. Many cryptocurrency commentators predict this will drive institutional use and adoption of such tokens.
Other examples mentioned by the paper involve Sacks and Craft's connections to AI-related companies, whose valuations have soared as the White House and Wall Street bet on the technology's potential.
The New York Times pointed out that the ethical waiver document disclosed by Sacks in March stated he would sell his interests in AI and cryptocurrency; however, the document did not disclose when he would sell these assets or detail the value of his remaining investments.
In his post on X, Sacks shared a letter from his law firm Clare Locke to The New York Times, accusing the media of "intending to write a smear piece" and giving its reporters "clear marching orders" to look for conflicts of interest.
Sacks' spokesperson Jessica Hoffman told The New York Times that he has complied with the relevant regulations for special government employees; the government ethics office stated that Sacks should sell his investments in certain types of companies but is not required to sell others.
Sacks' term as a special government employee is limited to 130 days, and in September, Democratic lawmakers questioned whether he had exceeded the allowed days in this appointment.
However, reports indicate that Sacks is carefully managing his days on the job as a special government employee to ensure he does not exceed the limit.
Related: Japan's bond yields rise, potentially shaking global carry trades and cryptocurrencies
Original: “David Sacks calls The New York Times report on conflicts of interest a ‘nothing-burger’”
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