Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary argues that U.S. institutional investors are reluctant to invest customer money without regulatory clarity, and Taylor Swift avoided legal action because FTX collapsed first.
O’Leary claims crypto is “dead” to institutional investors since sovereign wealth and pension funds will “not touch” crypto without regulations.
Coinbase Lawsuit Won’t Expedite Regulation, Says O’Leary
He said Coinbase’s recent lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would do nothing to spur regulation. Coinbase’s case asks the SEC if it would consider making new rules for crypto in the U.S.
While most crypto bills awaiting Congressional approval have stalled, O’Leary is optimistic about the new bipartisan stablecoin bill.
“The only narrative continuing on [Capitol Hill] that I’m supportive of [is the one] on digital payment systems [to get] stablecoins to do transactions to replace the SWIFT system the ACH system.”
He predicts that Bitcoin will trade between $17,000 and $35,000 for a long time, with the same traders trading back and forth.
“There’s no new money coming into it,” he opined.
Initially a crypto skeptic, Kevin O’Leary announced in 2021 that he had invested 3% of his portfolio in Bitcoin. O’Leary has also invested in Canadian crypto firm WonderFi.
He received $15 million plus an ownership stake in FTX and FTX.US to be their ambassador and spokesperson. He reportedly lost $9.7 million when FTX filed for bankruptcy last year.
Taylor Swift Escaped Lawsuit Because FTX Collapsed First
O’Leary said that the only reason Taylor Swift didn’t sign a $100 million deal with FTX was because the exchange collapsed before she could do so.
Attorney Adam Moskowitz, representing investors in a class action lawsuit against FTX and celebrity promoters, claimed Swift refused based on uncertainty surrounding FTT’s security status.
Other celebrities implicated in the lawsuit include former NFL star Tom Brady, basketball icons Shaquille O’Neal and Steph Curry, comedian Larry David, and O’Leary himself.
The lawsuit states,
“None of these Defendants performed any due diligence prior to marketing these FTX products to the public.”
Source: Barron’s
Last week, a U.S. judge banned crypto influencer Ben Armstrong, alias BitBoy, from issuing incendiary tweets and emails to Moskowitz. Armstrong is also one of the defendants in the class-action suit.
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