Popular reality television show star Kevin O’Leary has disclosed that he would be willing to invest financial assets in a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), if such a fund is able to secure approval from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Popularly known as Mr. Wonderful, Kevin O’Leary made this disclosure while discussing his opinion on the top crypto with Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano on a YouTube podcast.
The Canadian businessman, who doubles as a reality TV show (Shark Tank) star, addressed the issue of investing in Bitcoin. He noted that if the U.S. SEC grants the crypto their approval, he won’t mind investing in it. He also pointed out his concern about Bitcoin’s volatility and sought government regulators’ approval to be comfortable with investing in it.
O’Leary pointed out that while Bitcoin is up big this year, the crypto had also gone down spectacularly in value in the past. He noted that while BTC is outperforming gold this year, gold is much more stable than cryptocurrency. This stability is important as he says his goal is to “preserve” wealth.
An outspoken critic of Bitcoin in the past, Kevin O’Leary, in an interview with CNBC, previously referred to crypto as a “digital game,” “garbage,” “worthless,” and “a useless currency.” Similarly, he previously also called Anthony Pompliano crazy for keeping 50% of his entire net worth in Bitcoin.
However, his new statement reveals a softening stance. In fact, many institutional investors are getting involved in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. One such example is the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., who recently invested $1 million into Bitcoin.
Kevin O’Leary Already Has Some Bitcoin
The Shark Tank star and experienced venture capitalist further disclosed in the podcast that he already owns some Bitcoin. “I actually own a little amount of Bitcoin,” he said.
According to him, he bought some because some students he taught at Harvard University challenged him to take on the project.
However, Kevin O’Leary further reiterated his concerns regarding Bitcoin’s volatility as well as the government’s (SEC) stance against the crypto. He noted that off-the-record conversations with regulators has not disclosed any positive report towards a true crypto ETF getting approved at the current time. He says regulators are “a little squeamish on Bitcoin, they are not quite there yet.”
However, if government regulators were comfortable with approving a crypto ETF, O’Leary would invest in it. He said, “If that was the case, if tomorrow morning we woke up and the SEC said you can create an ETF with Bitcoin and we think Bitcoin is a legitimate, you know, payment system and store of wealth, not only would it go up but you’d have a lot of people like me investing in it, because I’d say ok, I’ll give it a 5% weighting.”
Other Notable Crypto Critics Changing
Kevin O’Leary’s softening stance towards cryptocurrency was embraced by many in the crypto space. However, it is important to know that several institutions and individuals who previously criticized crypto are now embracing digital currency.
Ex-PayPal and Intuit CEO Bill Harris, is a huge crypto critic referring to Bitcoin as a scam. “It’s a colossal pump-and-dump scheme, the likes of which the world has never seen,” he previously stated. However, PayPal has since changed its crypto stance and now offers cryptocurrency services to eligible users.
Also, François Villeroy de Galhau, the governor of the Bank of France, said, “[B]itcoin is in no way a currency, or even a cryptocurrency. It is a speculative asset. Its value and extreme volatility have no economic basis, and they are nobody’s responsibility.”
Nevertheless, the French bank has since changed its stance on cryptocurrency. Recently, the bank launched a project geared towards the establishment of a digital euro. Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank (ECB) president, also disclosed that the financial institution was considering developing a euro CBDC.
BTC Price
At the time of publication, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $22,414.57, with a market cap of $416,310,481,731 and a 24-hour trading volume of $48,551,406,643.
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