The crypto industry is about to have another friend in the White House.

In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump announced the appointment of Paypal’s COO David Sacks to a new position with an influential-sounding title: “White House AI & Crypto Czar.”

“In this important role, David will lead the administration’s policy in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness,” Trump said wrote late Thursday. “David will focus on making America the clear global leader in both areas. It will protect free speech online and keep us away from the bias and censorship of Big Tech. He will work on a legal framework so that the crypto industry gets the clarity it demands and can thrive in the US. David will also lead the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.”

Trump continued to praise his prominent Silicon Valley backer in a follow-up post, promising that the tech executive has the “knowledge, business experience, intelligence and pragmatism to make AMERICA great in these two critical technologies.”

The new role — and his appointment of a longtime tech billionaire as its initiator — underscores Trump’s growing intent to use DC to better benefit Silicon Valley. As a member of the “Paypal Mafia,” Sacks will be the latest Peter Thiel employee to enter the executive ranks, following Paypal co-founder Elon Musk and Vice President-elect JD Vance, who has a long professional history with dem Anti-tax billionaire. Trump has also tapped Thiel’s colleagues to lead key agencies: Jared Isaacman, who funded Musk’s SpaceX initiative, was nominated to lead NASA earlier this week.

Sacks is part of a band of tech bros, including Musk and Thiel, who have used their immense wealth, power and influence to unite conservatives and former leftists behind a cynical and conspiratorial reactionary vision against liberalism. As The New RepublicIn 2022, Jacob Silverman noted that for years Sacks had “quietly emerged as the leading advocate of a new right-wing sensibility that has emerged in the political realignments brought about by Trumpism and the pandemic.”

“In terms of foreign policy, it offers a mix of isolationism, Trumpist nationalism, distrust of the deep state and anti-empire realism John MearsheimerSilverman wrote. “Domestically, the vision is more convoluted, a series of angry posturing, a politics of anger, played out largely on Twitter, Callin, YouTube, Rumble, Substack and other online media, particularly among people who might once have counted themselves among them have on the left side, but now I can’t stand the sight of homeless camps.”

But despite his political affinity for Trump’s policies, Sacks did not always side with the president-elect. Immediately after January 6th, the longtime Republican said on his podcast: all in, that Trump was “clearly” responsible for the insurrection because “he is the one who put forward the theory that the election was stolen and has continually repeated it over the last two months” and “disqualified himself from running at the national level.” disqualified.” .”

“If you want to look at this mob as a weapon, I think he loaded the weapon,” Sacks said said at the time. “He directed it in a certain direction, but did he tell them to storm the Capitol? No, not specifically. So I think it would be very difficult to prosecute the case, but I think, you know, it’s kind of unnecessary and redundant to prosecute it in court. I mean, I think that in the eyes of the public, politically, I think most people see him as guilty.”