David Sacks, President Donald Trump’s crypto and artificial intelligence czar, came under fire this week following allegations that he could financially benefit from Trump’s announcement of a U.S. strategic crypto reserve.
The initiative, which Trump shared details about on Sunday, would involve the government holding a reserve of digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL). Critics raised concerns that individuals within the administration with ties to these assets could stand to gain from the move.
Sacks, a venture capitalist with previous crypto investments, quickly became a focal point of the controversy. Over the weekend and into Monday, he responded on X (formerly Twitter), rejecting accusations that he had a financial interest in the policy. He stated that he had divested from all of his personal crypto-related holdings before joining the administration, including his stake in Multicoin Capital, a crypto-focused investment firm.
One lingering question, however, was whether Craft Ventures — Sacks’ venture capital firm — had retained its investment in Bitwise, a crypto index fund manager that Sacks helped fund back in 2017. Bitwise’s investment products include an ETF that holds all the assets mentioned in Trump’s strategic reserve plan, raising concerns that it could benefit from the government’s crypto purchases.
On Tuesday, a source close to Craft Ventures confirmed to CoinDesk that the fund exited its position into Bitwise prior to the start of the President’s second administration. The Craft Ventures website was also updated on Tuesday to reflect that it had exited its Bitwise investment in January 2025.
Craft Ventures, Bitwise and Sacks have yet to comment publicly on the apparent exit. The source close to Craft Ventures told CoinDesk that the firm has not commented publicly so as not to disrupt Sacks’ government clearance process, which is currently ongoing.
In his social media defense, Sacks dismissed the entire controversy. “The accusation that people who are already very successful in business go into government to make more money is a lazy and stupid narrative,” he wrote. “As I’ve learned, serving in government involves substantial disruption and divestiture of one’s business interests.”
The debate over Trump’s proposed reserve continues to divide the crypto community. Some of the president’s crypto supporters argue that a Bitcoin-only reserve would be preferable, while others question whether the government should be involved in digital asset holdings at all — arguing that government intervention in the crypto space contradicts the industry’s decentralized ideals.
Conflict of interest questions also continue to swirl around the president, himself. The Trump-backed crypto startup World Liberty Financial has a treasury of around $500 million worth of crypto assets, including some listed in his Sunday reserve announcement.