Trump appoints former PayPal exec David Sacks as AI and crypto czar

• New role will help reshape U.S. policy on digital currency
  

  Early evangelist for cryptocurrency Move comes after bitcoin soared above $100,000 for first time

Dec 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday said he was appointing former PayPal Chief Operating Officer David Sacks as his "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar," another step towards overhauling U.S. policy.

"He will work on a legal framework so the Crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the U.S.," Trump said in a post on his social-media site Truth Social, without saying whether "czar" was an official title.

The crypto czar and other officials in Trump's incoming administration such as the chairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are expected to reshape U.S. policy on digital currency along with a newly created crypto advisory council.

Trump's tech backers generally want to see minimal regulation around artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, saying Washington would throttle growing innovative sectors with excessive rules.