Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author｜Golem (@web3_golem)

“Crypto Czar” David Sacks is leaving. David Sacks explained that he is stepping down from his position because he has reached the 130-day limit for special government employee terms, and he will continue to participate in related government affairs as the co-chair of the President's Advisory Council on Technology.

On December 6, 2024, Trump announced the appointment of David Sacks as the head of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency affairs at the White House, directly referring to him as the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar,” which is how David Sacks earned the title of “Crypto Czar.” This is not an official title, but rather a role that allows David Sacks to formalize his influence. In his appointment letter, Trump specifically expressed his expectations for David Sacks in the cryptocurrency field, stating, “to promote the establishment of a clear legal framework that provides the clarity long needed by the cryptocurrency industry, allowing it to thrive in the United States.”

From a motivational perspective, in 2024, Trump made a number of cryptocurrency promises to gain the support of the American crypto community, so after successfully taking office as president, he needed a capable person to help him fulfill those promises, and David Sacks was chosen as the policy executor.

David Sacks indeed did not disappoint Trump’s expectations and achieved some political accomplishments during his 130-day tenure: banning CBDCs, holding the first White House crypto summit, establishing the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, and facilitating the passage of the CLARITY Act.

The promises made by Trump to the cryptocurrency industry during his campaign were mostly fulfilled by David Sacks, which has led many to write his tenure as a narrative of victory. On the surface, it appears that way, but a closer look at the contributions David Sacks made to the cryptocurrency industry reveals a characteristic — political statements were abundant, but the sense of gain within the crypto industry was very thin.

During these 130 days, David Sacks was not reshaping the cryptocurrency industry; he was simply completing a political performance for Trump.

1. White House Crypto Summit = Trump’s Praise Session

The highlight of this performance was the seemingly sincere, yet entirely flattering and slogan-shouting White House Crypto Summit.(Related reading:White House Cryptocurrency Summit: A Political Performance of Flattery and Slogan-Shouting)

On March 7, 2025, David Sacks invited a number of cryptocurrency companies and industry figures to the White House on behalf of Trump, including a16z partner Chris Dixon, Ripple CEO, Robinhood CEO, Strategy founder Michael Saylor, Coinbase CEO, and various U.S. government officials including Trump and the Secretary of the Treasury.

The arrival of cryptocurrency figures in Washington had happened before, but previously it was mostly to endure hearings, face backlash, or explain whether they were actually frauds. This time was different; the setting shifted from a hearing room to the White House, and the atmosphere changed from tension to dignified group photos. For the first time, cryptocurrency figures were treated as “honored guests” by the U.S. government, and David Sacks sat next to Trump as the main orchestrator.

At the White House Crypto Summit, David Sacks sits to the left of Trump.

What was said at such a high-profile and highly anticipated government crypto meeting?

Reporters from Odaily Planet Daily who monitored the live broadcast that evening recorded that everyone was busy flattering Trump, and although it was called a closed-door meeting to define the regulatory direction for the next four years, no substantive policy documents were released throughout the event. Due to the meeting's content being too far removed from market expectations, the cryptocurrency market immediately dropped after the summit, according to OKX market data.

Of course, this summit had symbolic significance, but the issue is that it only held symbolic value. It demonstrated Trump’s alignment with crypto once again, but what the industry truly desired — unified, stable, and predictable regulatory boundaries, a long-term framework for institutions to feel secure in entering the market, and relief from the daily guessing game regarding what SEC and CFTC would change their stance on — remained unfulfilled. The meeting was lively, emotions ran high, but the fallout for the industry still resorted to news feedback.

If you ask why this meeting felt so hollow, it’s because the meeting itself was not planned in advance. The original promise when Trump was campaigning was to establish a cryptocurrency committee, allowing cryptocurrency industry leaders to engage directly and consistently with the White House and the president, but this did not happen for various reasons. Thus, a makeshift crypto summit was assembled as compensation, claiming it would be an ongoing series, but to date, the White House has not held a second meeting of the same caliber.

2. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve = Just Changing Drawers to Store Bitcoin

The second major initiative pushed by David Sacks, the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, is, to be serious, not just a performance, but a magic trick.

Just hours before the White House Crypto Summit, Trump signed an executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve, but upon the announcement, Bitcoin prices fell. The core reason is that David Sacks explained that this strategic Bitcoin reserve derives from Bitcoin forfeited by the U.S. government during previous criminal or civil asset seizure processes, not newly purchased Bitcoin, which means taxpayers did not spend a penny.

Although the Treasury and Commerce Departments were authorized in the order to research "budget-neutral" strategies for newly acquiring Bitcoin, no clear timeline or scale for purchases was provided. Therefore, the strategic Bitcoin reserve indicates to the market that it will not sell more Bitcoin, but it also will not buy more Bitcoin.

Trump signs the executive order for the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.

Did David Sacks handle this well? For Trump, certainly yes; without spending a dime, he fulfilled a promise. But for the cryptocurrency industry, it holds only symbolic significance; the market had originally expected the U.S. government to increase its Bitcoin holdings to inject liquidity and provide backing for the market, but what was ultimately delivered was “just moving the already seized Bitcoin to a different drawer.”

3. The GENIUS Act is the True Achievement

The GENIUS Act may be David Sacks' true achievement as the Crypto Czar.

On July 18, 2025, Trump officially signed the GENIUS Act in the East Room of the White House, making it officially a signed law. It not only holds symbolic meaning, but also has practical implications; from an industry impact perspective, the GENIUS Act establishes a federal framework for dollar stablecoins, meaning stablecoins have exited the phase of wild growth and entered a compliant landscape, becoming a new financial instrument backed by federal legal effectiveness.

This was not accomplished solely by David Sacks, but he does deserve credit. However, there is another bill—the twin of the GENIUS Act—the CLARITY Act, which is still struggling to be passed. The CLARITY Act, along with the GENIUS Act, was passed by U.S. Congress members on July 18, 2025, but as of now, it has yet to complete the Senate process and remains stuck in a deadlock between the banking industry and the cryptocurrency industry.

Trump signs the GENIUS Act.

David Sacks had confidently stated that the CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act would be passed within the first 100 days of the current administration. As of now, he has been thoroughly proven wrong.

The failure of the CLARITY Act to pass is not solely due to David Sacks, but he certainly bears some responsibility, just as he could reap some credit after the GENIUS Act passed. The White House Digital Assets Working Group led by David Sacks explicitly referred to the CLARITY Act as an "excellent foundation," and since the White House has already regarded it as the core draft for market structure legislation, can David Sacks remain a completely unrelated bystander if it stalls further?

The core deadlock of the bill centers around the conflict between the banking industry and the cryptocurrency industry concerning interest bearing on stablecoins. From the latest amended text, it appears that the banks have won; upon hearing this news, on March 25, Circle (CRCL) shares fell by as much as 18%, and Coinbase (COIN) dropped by about 8%. Moreover, if such a CLARITY Act were actually passed, it would be a blow to the entire DeFi space. (Related reading:CLARITY Act Rewrites DeFi's Life and Death Ledger: Circle Gains, DeFi Tokens Bleed)

This is quite different from the favorable script initially touted by Trump and David Sacks for the cryptocurrency industry; a bill that claims to promote the development of the cryptocurrency industry ultimately benefits the banks, not the cryptocurrency industry, which is truly ironic.

On March 4, Trump did not forget to mention the cryptocurrency industry amidst his busy schedule, as he wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. must quickly pass the CLARITY Act, and Americans should let their funds earn higher returns. It appears that Trump is still concerned about the cryptocurrency industry, but it wasn’t until the latest revision of the bill was released on March 24 that we saw again that it was another “symbolic” statement.

Now, “Crypto President” Trump has completely gone silent. As for David Sacks, the White House had long written his script; as the Crypto Czar, he stood at the forefront translating Trump’s campaign slogan of “making America the global cryptocurrency capital” into a few decent political actions, and now that the show has played out, it’s time to withdraw. Now, as the co-chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on Technology, David Sacks indicates that he will continue working on artificial intelligence policy and technology strategies, without even mentioning cryptocurrency.

The former Crypto Czar has vanished, and Trump’s ambiguous relationship with cryptocurrency has also ended.

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