Despite criticizing Bitcoin, the Shark Tank star also said the digital asset could become “something of tremendous value” if regulators were to back it.
Businessman Kevin O’Leary, who appears on the reality TV show Shark Tank, seems to be backing away from statements he made in December indicating he might purchase more Bitcoin.
In an episode of his YouTube series released today titled “Why I’m NOT Investing in Bitcoin,” O’Leary spoke to Bitcoiner Anthony ‘Pomp’ Pompliano and called Bitcoin (BTC) a “giant nothing burger” in terms of its value as an asset. He argued he would be unable to make “a significant transaction” using the crypto asset because of inconsistent regulatory frameworks across the world.
“I look at the asset value of Bitcoin versus the asset value of all things traded and Bitcoin is still a nothing burger — a giant nothing burger,” said O’Leary. “The reason I would argue that that’s the case is you don’t have every institution willing to play ball with it.”
The Shark Tank star is not completely against Bitcoin however. He appeared on an episode of Pomp’s podcast in December and revealed that he already owned some BTC and might consider investing anywhere from 1% to 2.5% of his portfolio into the crypto asset in future. In his YouTube video today, the businessman alssaid Bitcoin had the potential to become “something of tremendous value” if regulators in different countries were to get behind digital assets:
“If there was an attempt to either take Bitcoin itself or some other currency […] that could be traded everywhere with the regulator agreeing to it and would be agnostic — in other words, you could trade it to buy assets in Switzerland, trade it to buy assets in France, or in England, or in the United States […] everybody would take that digital currency.”
O’Leary is known for coming up with colorful but critical nicknames. He has previously referred to digital assets as “crypto crap” and Bitcoin as “not a real currency” and a “rogue currency.”
