Investor and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary has said crypto is getting “very interesting” as the recent events have forced lawmakers to push for a solid regulatory framework.
During an interview with Kitco News on January 17, O’Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, said he has been coming back to the crypto markets lately. He claimed that the recent incidents in the crypto market, including the fall of FTX, have provoked lawmakers to try to introduce a regulatory framework for these digital assets. He said:
“Crypto is getting very interesting because we are finally starting to see the bear of regulation coming into play. And I think long term that is a good thing. These hearings in the Senate have really poked the bear, as I like to say, and I’ve participated in the last hearings. When I had a chance to talk to the lawmakers, I sensed that they were frustrated now.”
The billionaire claimed that all unregulated crypto companies and exchanges will “go to zero” and a regulated crypto market will come out of it. He said that crypto is not bad in and of itself, rather it is all “rogue players and unregulated exchanges” and useless tokens that are to blame.
He also mentioned the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. O’Leary said one key factor that led to the failure of FTX was its FTT tokens, which had an unrealistic valuation on their balance sheet. He added that other major global exchanges are also facing the same issue.
Notably, O’Leary has recently become the center of controversy following his connection with FTX. As reported, the famed investor was paid around $15 million to promote FTX. However, after taxes, agents fees, a $1 million equity investment into FTX, and using $10 million to buy crypto that’s now stuck on the FTX exchange, he’s got nothing left from the deal.
“Total deal was just under $15 million, all in,” O’Leary said at the time. “I put about $9.7 million into crypto. I think that’s what I lost. I don’t know. It’s all at zero. I don’t know cos my account got scraped a couple of weeks ago. All the data, all the coins, everything.”
In November last year, FTX announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware after a week of speculations around the health of the company.
FTX investors have filed a class action lawsuit against SBF, the founder and former CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, as well as several celebrities who promoted the platform. The celebrities listed include Kevin O’Leary, Golden State Warriors, Shaquille O’Neal, Udonis Haslem, David Ortiz, Naomi Osaka, and more.
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