United States President-Elect, Donald Trump has appointed former college football player Bo Hines as the executive director of his new “Crypto Council.” The new appointment signals Trump’s ambition as he continues to energize his plans to take full force in the cryptocurrency world.
Announced via his social media platform Truth Social on Monday, Trump pointed out that Hines would become the executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets. Hines is now set to join the new advisory group known as the “Crypto Council”, where David Sacks was also appointed as the head.
Earlier in the month, Donald Trump appointed David Sacks, former PayPal operating chief and now podcaster, as his lead policy adviser on artificial intelligence and crypto czar. Sacks also doubled as the leader of the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology.
“In his new role, Bo will work with David to foster innovation and growth in the digital assets space, while ensuring industry leaders have the resources they need to succeed. Together, they will create an environment where this industry can flourish, and remain a cornerstone of our Nation’s technological advancement,” Trump wrote.
In 2022, Hines was a Republican candidate for North Carolina’s US House seat where he narrowly lost to Democrat rival Wiley Nickel. Hines, like other Republican candidates, received funding from the American Dream Federal Action super public action committee (PAC) and other pro-crypto PACs.
Alongside Hines, former FTX CEO Ryan Salame, who is currently serving a seven-year prison term for crimes including unlawful political contributions, reportedly donated $13.4 million to Republican candidates.
On another end, the President-Elect also announced the appointment of former Andreessen Horowitz general partner Sriram Krishnan as the senior AI policy adviser to the new council. Trump expressed that the appointment seeks to foster a more enhanced AI policy.
“Working closely with David Sacks, Sriram will focus on ensuring continued American leadership in A.I., and help shape and coordinate A.I. policy across Government, including working with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology,” Trump added.
While responding to the appointment via an X post, Krishnan expressed his delight to serve the United States and “ensure continued American leadership in AI working closely with David Sacks.”
Trump continues to build a crypto world
The appointments again stressed the president-elect’s ambition for the upliftment of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency at large. During his campaign, Trump positioned himself as the “crypto candidate”, embracing digital currencies on multiple fronts, such as accepting donations in various crypto assets, signalling his acceptance of the burgeoning sector.
At a Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Donald Trump expressed that he was going to make the United States the crypto capital of the world. As part of his plans, he pointed out the possibility of establishing a crypto reserve that will be used to cover the United States’ $36 trillion debt.
His promise to make the US “the world capital of crypto,” saw him accumulate millions of dollars in funding from top crypto industry executives. This saw him appoint Elon Musk as a co-leader of the Department for Government Efficiency (“DOGE”), a role aimed at creating a more efficient government, slashing excess regulations, cutting wasteful expenditures, and restructuring Federal agencies.
A month before the election, Trump launched a new cryptocurrency venture called World Liberty Financial – a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that aims to blur the lines between traditional finance and DeFi. The move has been pictured as a strategy to establish his growing influence in the crypto market.
In addition to his plans to fire the United States Securities and Exchange Commission chief, Gary Gensler over his unclear and stringent policies for the crypto industry, Trump, on Dec. 4, nominated pro-crypto businessman and former Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Paul Atkins to chair the agency. The industry executives hope it will dampen the regulator’s enforcement actions against the crypto industry.
In the same form, Trump Media and Tech Group (TMTG), a company largely owned by the President-elect, is almost all done to acquire Bakkt, a cryptocurrency trading platform.
Coupled with the various appointments, his victory at the pools has seen Bitcoin price hit various price level records in recent weeks with the highest at $106,000. Though its value currently sells for $96,000.
Also Read: Trump appoints Elon Musk to lead newly created department for govt efficiency.
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