Crypto Czar David Sacks Sold All Holdings Before Taking Office

David Sacks, the White House’s AI and Crypto Czar, confirmed he sold all his cryptocurrency holdings, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, before Trump’s inauguration. His statement follows concerns over potential conflicts of interest due to his past investments in crypto firms like Bitwise, BitGo, and Multicoin Capital.

Sacks denied claims that he still holds indirect exposure through Craft Ventures, the firm he founded in 2017. "I had a $74k position in the Bitwise ETF which I sold on January 22, I do not have 'large indirect holdings,'" he wrote on X, adding that he is undergoing an ethics review.

The controversy grew after a Financial Times report pointed to his past ties with Bitwise’s crypto ETFs, which hold assets now included in Trump's proposed U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The initiative will establish Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP, and Cardano as key national assets, with further details expected at the White House Crypto Summit on March 7.

Despite distancing himself from personal holdings, Sacks continues to support pro-crypto policies, saying Trump is "keeping his promise to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world." The upcoming summit will bring together industry leaders to discuss regulations, stablecoins, and the framework for the crypto reserve.

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Ronaldinho’s Meme Coin Raises Security and Trading Concerns

Brazilian football star Ronaldinho launched the STAR10 memecoin on BNB Chain, promoting it as his only official token for fans. Soon after its release, security firm GoPlus flagged a critical issue in the smart contract, revealing that developers had the ability to burn any holder’s tokens at will. Following backlash, the STAR10 team renounced ownership of the contract, permanently removing administrative control.

Concerns over insider trading emerged after blockchain data showed a wallet linked to the STAR10 team purchasing 12.24% of the token’s supply before Ronaldinho publicly endorsed it. The wallet spent 80 BNB (around $50,000) just hours before the official announcement, raising speculation of coordinated buying. While the contract vulnerability has been fixed, the pre-launch activity has fueled doubts.

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Kraken Celebrates Legal Victory as SEC Drops Lawsuit

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against Kraken with prejudice, ending a case that the exchange called politically motivated. Kraken will not pay any penalties or change its business operations, reinforcing its claim that the lawsuit was baseless and did not serve to protect investors.

The dismissal removes uncertainty for Kraken and the broader crypto industry, allowing the company to focus on expansion and regulatory engagement. Kraken stated that it remains committed to working with policymakers to ensure fair regulations, emphasizing that “regulatory actions must be based on facts, not political agendas.”

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Binance to Delist Non-MiCA Stablecoins in Europe

Binance will remove nine non-compliant stablecoins from trading for users in the European Economic Area on March 31, aligning with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations. Affected assets include Tether (USDT), First Digital USD (FDUSD), TrueUSD (TUSD), Pax Dollar (USDP), Dai (DAI), and TerraUSD (UST), among others.

While trading will be halted, users can still deposit, withdraw, and convert these stablecoins through Binance Convert. The exchange recommends converting holdings into MiCA-compliant options like Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) or the Eurite Euro Token (EURI), as Binance's rival platforms, including Coinbase and Kraken take similar regulatory steps.

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Data of the Day

A trader made nearly $7 million on decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid placed a high-risk $200 million long position on Bitcoin just before Donald Trump’s announcement of a U.S. crypto reserve. Using 50x leverage, the position was nearly liquidated when Bitcoin dropped to $84,752, just $50 away from wiping out the trade.

Instead, Bitcoin surged over 11% to $97,255 following Trump’s post, allowing the trader to close the position with a $6.8 million profit. While some speculate insider knowledge, others believe it was a calculated bet that Bitcoin had bottomed after falling from its $109,000 peak.

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More Breaking News

• Standard Chartered's Geoff Kendrick said Trump's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve plan reaffirms his $500,000 BTC target as investor access expands.
• Polymarket bettors assign just a 23% chance that Trump’s proposed Bitcoin reserve will be formally established within his first 100 days in office.
• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said a Bitcoin-only US crypto reserve would be the simplest, clearest option as a modern successor to gold.
• Indian police shut down a $2.4 million crypto scam that duped over 2,000 victims through fraudulent RSN investments promising high returns.
• Uphold relaunched crypto staking in the US, citing shifting regulatory policies and renewed SEC leniency toward digital asset services.
• Aave deployed its lending markets on Sonic, marking its first Layer 1 blockchain expansion this year and a step toward cross-chain growth.
• The US lost 1,233 cryptocurrency ATMs in early March, days after a senator proposed a bill targeting crypto ATM fraud and illicit transactions.

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