The new "encryption czar" David Sacks in the White House spoke in favor of BTC in ten sentences

Editor: Mao Di

On December 6, US President-elect Trump will appoint David Sacks as the White House Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Assets Chief, making him the new "encryption czar" at the White House.

David Sacks is a South African-American entrepreneur and writer. He was the first COO of PayPal and has publicly expressed his support for BTC and Crypto Assets. He believes that BTC is a tool against the TradFi system and centralization, especially demonstrating its value in the context of global economic uncertainty and currency devaluation. He believes that Decentralized Finance and blockchain technology can make the financial system more transparent. David Sacks has invested in multiple Crypto Assets projects through his venture capital fund Craft Ventures, including: dYdX, Lightning Labs, River Financial, Kresus, Set Protocol, FOLD, Harbor, Handshake, Voltage, Galy, Lumina, Rare Bits.

In addition, David Sacks is a staunch supporter of Solana. In 2018, David Sacks, on behalf of Craft Ventures, announced an investment in the encryption venture capital firm Multicoin. Multicoin is one of the early investors in Solana and led a $20 million financing round for Solana in July 2019. In December 2023, David Sacks clarified that he did not dump Solana after the FTX incident and tweeted, 'One of the dumbest attacks against me this year is the claim that I'm dumping Solana (SOL) tokens to retail investors. If that were true, they should now be making a fortune. Congratulations to all SOL holders.' Two years ago, David Sacks also extensively discussed the prospects of Solana on his podcast 'All-In Podcast.' He mentioned that many elites in Silicon Valley have high hopes for Solana, believing that it has the potential to surpass Ethereum. Even if this vision is not fully realized, Solana has the ability to rank third in the crypto world.

Community member EliNagarBrr also compiled his 10 statements about his position on Bitcoin and received his own retweet.

「I'm buying」

As @chamath explained, BTC could become the next internet -- the currency internet. I'm in. - David Sacks posted on May 31, 2013

Since 2013, Sacks has been a BTC HODLer and started buying when BTC was only $130. Now the BTC price has pumped 76,000%.

The essence of BTC's revolution lies in its potential as a non-legal currency

In the interview on May 23, 2022 (from 46 minutes to 49 minutes), David Sacks expressed this view.

David Sacks said: His personal interest in Bitcoin can be traced back to 2012 when I first purchased BTC. Although my primary investment area is not Cryptocurrency, we realized during 2017-2018 that the encryption field was developing. We predicted that it would transition from a consumer-centric, retail-oriented phenomenon to an institutional asset class. To seize this opportunity, we invested in key infrastructure, including institutional custody provided by BitGo, and became seed investors in Multicoin Capital, a hedge fund focused on encryption. Our core belief is that as this asset class matures, it will need professional fund managers. Although my expertise lies in SaaS investments, I saw the opportunity to support teams focused on the encryption field, and this strategy has also yielded significant results.

The essence of BTC's revolution lies in its potential as a non-legal currency. Historically, legal tender faces significant risks when managed by the government, especially currency devaluation. This is particularly true for reserve currencies like the US dollar, as the temptation to offset fiscal deficits and repay debts through printing money is enormous. Currently, the US debt-to-GDP ratio has exceeded 130%, which means the total debt exceeds the nation's annual economic output — making it nearly impossible to repay without devaluing the currency. Historically, currency devaluation has been a common means to address excessive debt.

BTC provides an alternative. It is not managed by central authorities, but operates based on cryptographic principles and immutable code. Its fixed total supply of 21 million eliminates the inflation risk caused by any monetary policy. Trust in BTC does not depend on confidence in the government, but rather on trust in the security and integrity of its underlying technology. As long as the system remains uncompromised, its monetary policy will not change. As awareness of the systemic fragility of the Fiat Currency system deepens among individuals and institutions, the attractiveness of BTC as a reliable currency may continue to grow. Its journey is not over, but its foundational commitment to financial sovereignty and anti-inflation continues to resonate with many.

Satoshi Nakamoto should become a billionaire

The first BTCMiner owns 1 million BTC, now worth 10 billion US dollars. I hope this person is Satoshi Nakamoto, because he/she/they should be a billionaire. - David Sacks, November 29, 2013

He is making a fictional feature film about Satoshi Nakamoto.

Sacks said, "This movie is like watching 'Social Web', but not knowing who the character of Zuckerberg is."

Sacks understands the practicality of BTC as a highly liquid and non-confiscatable store of value.

In the interview on May 23, 2022 (from 50 minutes to 52 minutes), David Sacks stated: The concept of BTC as a global reserve currency is quite attractive. Some people, like Balaji Srinivasan, believe that the three major currencies with global potential at present are: the US Dollar, the Renminbi, and Bitcoin. Each currency represents a different geopolitical or technological paradigm. The US Dollar symbolizes the American financial empire, the Renminbi is linked to China's rise, while BTC symbolizes Decentralization and the cryptography-driven future.

To make Bitcoin a global reserve currency, major systemic changes may be needed, such as the collapse of the US dollar or other catastrophic economic events. However, even without such drastic changes, Bitcoin can still play an important role. In countries facing oppressive regimes, export controls, or economic instability, Bitcoin provides a lifeline - a portable, censorship-resistant store of value tool, known as the 'new gold' or 'digital BCD'. Its appeal lies in its ability to safeguard wealth independently of any country.

He believes that BTC may achieve the separation of currency and country.

During the 52nd to 55th minutes of the interview, David Sacks said:

The grander vision of BTC is to achieve the separation of currency and state control. Throughout history, similar moments of transformation have changed the social structure, such as the separation of church and state. Similarly, the separation of currency and state could have equally profound implications, giving rise to a currency system independent of government intervention. This concept may sound like science fiction today, but BTC offers a glimpse into this future.

The timetable for this shift is still uncertain - it may take decades or even centuries. The speculative nature of BTC's potential role in the global economy also makes it difficult to assign a clear value. This uncertainty is also why some, including myself, are cautious about positive speculation. However, the potential of BTC lies in its ability to challenge traditional paradigms, even though its ultimate trajectory remains unknown.

He is not the biggest BTC maximalist

During the 55th to 58th minute of the interview, the host asked: Are you still buying Bitcoin? David Sacks said:

I hold a certain amount of BTC, but my approach is to 'leave it alone'. I have experienced many market cycles - dramatic pumps and sharp drops - so I tend to allocate a portion of my net assets to BTC and leave it unchanged. For me, this is a long-term bet: while there is always a risk that BTC may drop to zero, it also has the potential to evolve into a dominant currency in the next few decades. If that happens, I would regret not getting involved earlier. Therefore, I have basically completed the investment and let it sit quietly without actively trading or trying to time the market.

I don't classify myself as a bitcoin maximalist. Although I believe that BTC has the strongest reasons to support it among all cryptocurrencies - as evidenced by its price performance and relative stability - I also recognize the value of the broader innovation that BTC has sparked.

For example, the Block chain technology that BTC relies on has spawned other important advancements, especially in the field of Smart Contracts. Platforms like Ethereum and Solana provide Smart Contract functionality, with their native Tokens serving as 'gas' to purchase computing power. These platforms support various Decentralized applications, particularly in the field of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), which has reached a certain scale.

Despite the full potential of Blockchain technology, I remain skeptical about its applicability beyond certain use cases. Many of the problems that projects attempt to solve are actually more easily addressed through centralized databases. For example, financial applications such as transactions, derivatives, and settlement make sense on-chain because they can benefit from the transparency and programmability offered by the Blockchain. DeFi contracts are open, auditable, and transparent, in stark contrast to the opaque over-the-counter derivatives of Wall Street.

However, the broader application prospects of blockchain remain uncertain. Despite the true potential demonstrated by Decentralized Finance, it is still unknown whether blockchain can support meaningful innovation in other areas. Many in the field seem to be misled or overly optimistic, believing that blockchain can disrupt industries where centralized systems have been operating well.

Currently, I believe that BTC is the most stable and credible among all Cryptocurrencies, especially in its potential role as a store of value tool. However, I also recognize other innovations based on Blockchain, especially in the fields of Smart Contracts and financial systems. This field is still developing, and the full extent of its applications has not yet been fully revealed. Whether these platforms will surpass Decentralized Finance and expand to a broader range of use cases, or remain within a narrower scope, will ultimately determine the long-term impact of Blockchain technology.

Through his venture capital firm Craft Ventures, Sacks has invested in multiple BTC-related companies, such as Lightning Labs, Fold, Bitwise, and Bitgo.

Congratulations to starkness, roasbeef, and lightning on the launch of the test version of the Lightning protocol. This is the most important expansion solution for BTC and one of the most important projects in the entire encryption industry. I am very happy to be an investor! - David Sacks, March 16, 2018

After PayPal, he thought he would never be interested in the payment field again, but the appearance of BTC changed everything. "BTC is realizing the original vision of PayPal, that is, creating a new world currency."

This is an article published on August 14, 2017.

At that time, his views included:

He believes that Crypto Assets are becoming the foundation of Web 3.0. Blockchain technology has become a developer platform, especially Ethereum, providing support for creating decentralized applications and Tokens, and has become an innovative way of financing through the initial Tokenissuance (ICO).

Regarding Howard Marks of Oaktree's comment that "BTC is not real," Sacks countered that the "reality" of BTC, like software, depends on trust and network effects. BTC ensures scarcity through cryptography and economic incentives, and this trust is sometimes more reliable than government credit.

Sacks believes that the current technological development of Cryptocurrency is similar to that of 1995, while market valuation is close to that of the 1999 Internet bubble. He expects a correction to occur, with regulatory policies being the main triggering factor.

He hopes that this correction will be more like a "soft landing" than a "nuclear winter" after the internet bubble, and points out that the irrational phenomenon of ICO valuation is the focus of market rectification.

Sacks pointed out that protocol coins in ICOs have practical uses in the software ecosystem and should not be regarded as securities. Asset coins, on the other hand, will be considered securities and should be issued in the correct manner, but this field is full of potential.

He believes that in the future, almost any non-Liquidity asset could be tokenized and blockchainized, which will enhance market Liquidity and price discovery efficiency. Even Liquidity assets such as stocks may also shift to this platform due to the advantages of blockchain technology.

crypto capitalism poses a long-term threat to venture capitalism. Many startups can raise funds through ICOs without the need for traditional VC funding.

He predicts that the limited partner (LP) rights of VC will also be tokenized, which will improve financing efficiency. Although top VCs may adhere to traditional models, tokenization will become a competitive advantage for other VCs.

David Sacks said BTC is the invention of digital scarcity

Those so-called critics, such as Charlie Munger and others, are indeed excellent investors, but they are not technical experts. That's their blind spot. And one thing they don't understand about this technology is that BTC is the first digital asset in history that cannot be infinitely replicated.

Just think about it, for example, a song, a photo, or a video, anything digital can be infinitely copied. That's one of the meanings of 'digital', right? So how can there be a kind of Digital Money that cannot be infinitely copied? Obviously, if it can be freely copied, its value will be completely destroyed.

The genius of Bitcoin lies in the fact that every transaction is recorded in a decentralized ledger - the blockchain. Over the past decade, no one has been able to forge BTC, create replicas, or achieve Double Spending. This is the unique value of BTC.