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David Sacks is pushing back against recent allegations that he leveraged his position to manipulate crypto markets, firmly stating the claims are baseless.

In a recent episode of The All-In Podcast, David Sacks, the White House’s point person on AI and crypto, directly addressed accusations suggesting he orchestrated a plan to inflate his crypto assets for personal enrichment.

“’Right away, people jumped to conclusions, claiming I was engaged in some kind of scheme to ‘pump my bags’ or create an exit strategy to benefit myself,’ Sacks stated. He stressed the gravity of these accusations, pointing out that they essentially accuse him of criminal conduct.”

Sacks emphasized that he had divested all of his cryptocurrency holdings before taking on his role in the administration to proactively avoid any semblance of conflict of interest. He had previously confirmed in a statement that he liquidated his Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

“’When it comes to the crypto world, market fluctuations are simply part of the game,’ he explained. ‘The last thing you want is for someone to point to a normal market swing and spin a conspiracy theory claiming crypto benefited unfairly. But that’s precisely what unfolded here.’”

Sacks revealed that he and his venture firm, Kraft, had sold off roughly $200 million in crypto assets. Of that amount, $85 million was directly attributable to him personally.

“’We took care of all of that before day one, settled the tax obligations, and made it clear there would be absolutely no conflict of interest,’” he affirmed. Sacks continued, noting that the scrutiny then shifted, with critics arguing that even without direct crypto ownership, his investments in crypto funds still presented a conflict.

Sacks clarified that his preemptive actions went beyond just direct crypto holdings. He also fully withdrew from numerous investment funds focused on crypto, including positions in well-known firms like Bitwise, Multicoin Capital, and Blockchain Capital.

“’Honestly, at this point, I think they’ve pretty much dropped this whole narrative,’” Sacks remarked.

According to Jason Calacanis, who manages one of the funds Sacks divested from, this process involved selling fund shares at steep discounts, sometimes “50%, 25% off,” potentially resulting in losses reaching into the eight or nine-figure range for Sacks.

Trump’s crypto advisor also dismissed the idea that he was seeking personal financial gain through his government role. He disclosed that he has taken on an unpaid consultant position within the administration.

Sacks took aim at the notion that wealthy individuals seek government roles primarily for financial enrichment, branding it as a “lazy and stupid” assumption.

“’It’s a truly lazy and frankly, stupid narrative to suggest that someone who’s already achieved business success enters government solely to accumulate more wealth. I was doing just fine financially before this,’” he asserted. “’This role actually involves a significant disruption to my existing business interests.’”

Sacks reiterated that his divestments were essential to preemptively address any ethical concerns, despite the considerable financial hit.

“’The act of divestment itself is costly. You either face tax implications or have to accept a considerable markdown. It genuinely costs you money,’” he emphasized. “’So, this whole narrative is just lazy thinking. There’s simply no truth to it.’”

Sacks has been under public examination due to these conflict of interest allegations stemming from his appointment as Trump’s crypto and AI advisor.

Critics, notably including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have voiced concerns that Sacks could sway Trump’s selections for the U.S. crypto reserve, potentially leading to personal financial benefits from those choices, which include big names like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, and XRP.

Ultimately, the President did sign an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a US digital asset stockpile, using legal forfeiture mechanisms.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg TV on Friday, Sacks clarified that Trump had previously mentioned XRP, SOL, and ADA simply because they happened to be among the top five cryptocurrencies based on market capitalization at the time.

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