“Shark Tank” / ABC
- Kevin O’Leary told CNBC on Thursday that bitcoin is irrelevant to financial markets and is at risk of regulation.
- His comments come as an increasing number of institutions like Guggenheim and SkyBridge capital invest millions in cryptocurrency, driving an increase of more than 200% in 2020.
- “I am looking forward to the day when one of these regulators falls on bitcoin. Adult men will cry when that happens. You will never see a loss of capital like that in your life. It will be brutal,” he said.
- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is proposing a new regulation that would require certain cryptocurrency traders to provide more information about their cryptocurrency identities and transactions.
- See the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Kevin O’Leary told CNBC on Thursday that bitcoin is irrelevant to financial markets and is also at risk of regulations being taken seriously by institutional investors.
“Is that a hamburger for nothing? It’s not even a single cell amoeba,” said President O’Shares,
“I love talking about it, it’s fun to watch it go up and down, but during the day, when the doorbell rings, I don’t speak to anyone who worries about it. They don’t put capital to work in bitcoin. “
His comments come as more institutional participants are piling up, validating bitcoin’s legitimacy as a store of value and protection against inflation. Earlier this week, SkyBridge Capital invested $ 25 million in a new bitcoin fund, while last month, Guggenheim filed an order to reserve the right to 10% of its $ 5.3 billion Macro Opportunity Fund for invest in Bitcoin Trust in shades of gray.
O’Leary said the concept of a digital currency is likely to materialize in the future, but investors should be careful when glorifying bitcoin while it still needs to fulfill a defined role in the financial markets and while it can still be regulated. This year, bitcoin has skyrocketed more than 200%, and many crypto bulls are predicting a growth explosion in 2021.
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Although regulations may be coming for the popular token. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is proposing new rules that would require certain cryptocurrency traders to provide more information about their cryptocurrency identities and transactions. This does not seem to have frightened several institutional investors, but O’Leary, who said he had $ 52.77 in an encrypted wallet, is more concerned.
“I am looking forward to the day when one of these regulators falls on bitcoin. Adult men will cry when that happens. You will never see a loss of capital like that in your life. It will be brutal,” he said.
O’Leary added: “This whole market, even if Bitcoin goes up, another 2,000% is completely irrelevant to the institutional customer.”