The White House has put crypto squarely on the policy map. President Donald Trump announced the first 13 members of his revamped Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) — a slate that mixes AI heavyweights, Big Tech titans and prominent crypto figures. The council can expand to as many as 24 members, the administration said; analyst TylerD first flagged the announcement on Twitter. Who’s on the list - Big-name tech leaders: Jensen Huang (Nvidia), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Sergey Brin (Google), Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Lisa Su (AMD). - Crypto heavy-hitters: Fred Ehrsam (Coinbase co‑founder) and Marc Andreessen (co‑founder of a16z). - The council will be co‑chaired by David Sacks alongside a former U.S. Chief Technology Officer, according to the announcement. Why the crypto inclusions matter Ehrsam and Andreessen are not peripheral figures. Fred Ehrsam left a Goldman Sachs FX desk in 2012 to co‑found Coinbase with Brian Armstrong, served as the company’s first president (2012–2017), remained on the board and went on to become an influential early‑stage investor. Marc Andreessen, author of the 2014 essay “Why Bitcoin Matters,” has long championed crypto, Ethereum and Web3; through a16z he has helped steer large venture bets into blockchain and AI and has publicly criticized previous regulatory and banking approaches to the industry. Policy implications Putting Ehrsam and Andreessen inside PCAST — alongside AI and semiconductor leaders — is a notable shift from prior cycles when crypto mostly faced enforcement and external guidance. Embedding crypto voices in a formal advisory body could: - Push for clearer, more predictable rule‑making around exchanges, stablecoins and other market infrastructure. - Favor the development of compliant, U.S.-domiciled crypto infrastructure. - Recast regulatory risk: not an immediate bullish catalyst for prices, but a structural move that could turn compliance into a competitive moat for established players over time. Bottom line This PCAST lineup signals that digital assets are being treated as part of the broader technology and competitiveness conversation, not sidelined. That shift matters for how regulators, markets and investors think about the future of crypto in the United States. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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