Shark Tank star and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary prefers consulting with regulators before investing in crypto. The celebrity investor said this during an interview on November 23, adding that he is not interested in being a crypto cowboy. O’Leary believes he can get insights on what is possible and what is not from a regulatory standpoint by staying compliant.
In the interview, O’Leary stressed that he is not interested in investing in litigation against the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). According to him, doing so would be a terrible idea. He gave an example of how the regulator sued Ripple and two of its executives for allegedly violating securities laws through the unregistered sale of XRP tokens worth $1.30 billion (£0.98 billion)
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O’Leary said he prefers to take a compliant approach that accommodates rules that regulators introduce because regulatory approval helps create real capital.
Explaining why he is a big fan of compliance, O’ Leary said,
I have no interest in being a crypto cowboy and getting anybody unhappy with me because … I have so many assets in the real world that I’ve invested in already that I have to be compliant.
The US should lead the stablecoin charge
When it comes to investing in digital currencies backed by national currencies, O’Leary said he does not plan to hold the Russian ruble or China’s e-CNY. Explaining why the CBDCs are not his cream of the crop, the Shark Tank star said he does not know enough about the countries’ blockchain networks and whether they monitor ownership.
He, however, noted that he is open to investing in a dollar-backed CBDC or stablecoin. O’Leary admitted that such an investment would be counterintuitive because of the rising inflation, which has weakened the dollar.
Sharing why a dollar-backed coin would be an ideal investment for him, O’Leary said he has been holding a large amount of cash after selling a considerable amount of his commercial property over the past few years.
With the increasing inflation, these funds are losing their buying power. However, the investor believes investing in a stablecoin like USD Coin (USDC/USD) could see him net a 6% return. Despite the benefits that might come with such an investment, O’Leary said he could only invest up to 5% of his cash in USDC at the moment.
He further noted that the US should use this opportunity to lead the charge with stablecoins.
Creating a diversified crypto portfolio
Sharing the technique he uses to invest in crypto, O’Leary said he focuses on the software part to see which blockchain networks can succeed in the long term. He added that he considers coins like Solana (SOL/USD), Polygon (MATIC/USD), and Hedera (HBAR) are good investments. The star investor further noted that he plans to invest in the above coins because he does not know which protocol will win.
This news comes after O’Leary previously disclosed that approximately 10% of his portfolio is invested in various cryptos.
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