Latest news with #O'LearyVentures
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kevin O'Leary: 'I Want More Regulation, And I Want It Now'
Kevin O'Leary, chairman of O'Leary Ventures, said the crypto industry isn't regulated enough — which is holding digital assets back from true institutional adoption. Speaking at Consensus 2025 in Toronto on Thursday, O'Leary said crypto assets under management (AUM) have hit a wall, which he attributed to a lack of regulatory clarity that has prevented the majority of sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and institutional investors from investing meaningfully. 'I never thought I'd say this, but I want more regulation and I want it now,' O'Leary said. 'The good news is there's a new sheriff in town: Paul Atkins at the [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission].' O'Leary said Atkins, who was sworn in as chairman of the SEC last month, has already telegraphed that he's friendly to the crypto industry and will 'regulate accordingly.' Atkins replaces Gary Gensler, whose penchant for so-called 'regulation by enforcement' drew the ire of many in the crypto industry. O'Leary said Thursday that he respected Gensler's consistency as a regulator. 'He said he was gonna sue you, and he sued you,' O'Leary said. 'He was consistent and you have to respect that.' In a press conference ahead of his keynote speech, O'Leary said he'd received a Wells notice from the SEC over a decade ago after speaking about debt tokenization in a televised interview. He was cleared, he said, but the experience temporarily scared him off engaging with crypto in the U.S. 'My first experience with crypto was over a decade ago, when I was on business cable, talking about debt tokenization,' O'Leary said. 'I get a knock on my door and it's an enforcement agent from the SEC serving me a Wells notice. I shit my pants … The regulator was sending a message. I got the message' Since Gensler departed the agency in January, the SEC has done an about-face on its approach to crypto regulation, creating a Crypto Task Force spearheaded by crypto-friendly Commissioner Hester Peirce and dropping a host of open investigations and lawsuits against crypto companies that were started under Gensler. A friendlier SEC isn't the only thing O'Leary is hopeful for when it comes to crypto regulation — he expects to see the passage of the GENIUS Act within 'months.' 'The minute that happens, it will signal the move to the next act, the market infrastructure act,' O'Leary said. 'And when that is determined and regulated, Katy, bar the doors — a trillion dollars will come in and index [bitcoin].' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kevin O'Leary: ‘Crypto Will Be the 12th Sector of the Economy'
As markets stabilize and bitcoin claws its way back above $100k, Kevin O'Leary – also known as 'Mr. Wonderful' – is doubling down on digital assets and calling for clear regulation to unlock crypto's next chapter. 'I consider crypto to be the 12th sector of the economy within five years,' he told CoinDesk in a wide-ranging interview ahead of his keynote at Consensus 2025 in Toronto on May 15. The O'Leary Ventures Chairman outlined his approach to crypto, which is grounded in traditional portfolio construction and a very deliberate plan to prepare for institutional capital he believes is about to flood into the industry. Crypto: A 19% Allocation O'Leary holds a 19% weighting in crypto and related equities. That includes direct exposure to crypto and shares in major crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Robinhood and WonderFi. 'Volatility is good for an exchange," he said. 'No matter what crypto is doing, up or down, the exchange is making money because it's the infrastructure.' For yield, he favors USDC over bank deposits. 'The yield on that this morning is 3.822%. That's better than a savings account.' (O'Leary disclosed he is a shareholder in Circle.) Still, O'Leary follows a strict strategy: never more than 5% in one position and never more than 20% in any sector, including crypto. No to Bitcoin ETFs, No to MicroStrategy Despite being long BTC, O'Leary is not a fan of the ETF wrapper. 'I never understood why anybody would buy bitcoin in an ETF and pay fees. That's insane,' he said. 'If I want vol on crypto, just buy bitcoin.' (Bitcoin ETFs were introduced in the U.S. in January 2024 and have attracted about $115 billion in investment so far.) He also opted out of Strategy, saying Michael Saylor is 'a great strategist, no question. But why don't I just own bitcoin outright?' Regulation is the Missing Piece Institutional adoption of crypto hinges on regulation and compliance, he said. Large funds can't buy in until their internal systems can account for digital assets the same way they do equities or bonds. 'There are trillions of dollars waiting on the sidelines. But they can't move until it's regulated and the compliance infrastructure is there.' That's why he's optimistic about stablecoin legislation in the U.S., which he expects to pass soon. If that happens, he said, 'you want to own the exchanges.' 'The era of the crypto cowboy is over,' he said. 'They're all in jail or felons. What we need now is compliance.' Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kevin O'Leary is weighing in on Canada-U.S. tensions. What to know about the Montreal-born business man who calls himself Mr. Wonderful
Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary has been weighing in on U.S. politics, as tensions between the neighbouring countries continue to rise amid an ongoing trade war. The 70-year-old from Montreal made recent appearances on American news outlet CNN as a panel contributor, as well as on a podcast and in the Washington Post, musing about closer ties between the countries. He has raised ire among many Canadians for comments that seem pro-American to people anxious over Trump's threats. O'Leary has been a public figure in the spotlight in Canada and the U.S. since he appeared as a host — or a 'shark' — on the business reality television series Shark Tank in 2009, and its Canadian predecessor Dragon's Den in 2006. That's where he created his television persona as a blunt, straight shooter, with the nickname Mr. Wonderful. Decades later, he is still in the spotlight, quipping about Canada and U.S. relations and sharing his views online. O'Leary is an author, winemaker, guitar collector (and player) and has a passion for photography. He currently runs private venture capital investment company O'Leary Ventures. Here's what to know about O'Leary. In an episode of finance podcast The Daniela Cambone Show posted online on Monday, O'Leary criticized Mark Carney, the newly elected leader of the Liberal Party and current prime minister. O'Leary said his policies would harm Canada. He also spoke about U.S. President Donald Trump. 'Trump can't stop with the 'Let's buy Canada' and 'make (it) the 51st state.' That's just his nature, but you've got to differentiate the signal from the noise,' he said. 'The next step into the journey into the negotiations with the U.S. is the Canadian election.' In a post on X with a clip of his interview, he said that 'Canada's economy is at a turning point' and asked, 'but who's leading?' 'Premiers are scrambling, flying to Texas, Washington — doing deals on their own. That's not how you negotiate trade. We need a federal mandate. Canada's not for sale, but the opportunity for economic alignment with the US is massive — if we don't screw it up,' he wrote. He also said he didn't 'buy' the fact that Trump truly wanted to annex Canada, in reference to comments made about the country becoming the 51st state. He called Trump 'bombastic' and 'outrageous.' 'It's the hangover effect of how much he hated (former Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau,' said O'Leary. In a Washington Post article published on Thursday, the links between O'Leary and Trump were highlighted. Both have made the case for uniting the countries — although O'Leary suggested a 'formal economic alliance…similar to the European Union,' per the publication, rather than Trump's annexation threats. 'China is the problem right now, and it's going to remain so as it tries to become the world's largest economy,' said O'Leary, the Washington Post reported. 'If somehow we combine the economies of Canada and the United States – game over. It's over. Nobody could touch us.' When he spoke with Trump in January at Mar-a-Lago, O'Leary brought up the subject of Canada, which could have pushed the president to think more deeply about it, per the Washington Post. 'I don't know if it was something I said that got him thinking about that,' O'Leary. 'And that was the beginning of something. But I can't claim that I gave him the idea. Who knows? I have no idea.' O'Leary backed a second Trump presidency, publicly declaring his support on news outlets such as Fox News and CNN, the Palm Beach Post reported in December. He flew to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida estate, in January and attended the president's inauguration in Washington, D.C. 'This wasn't your typical speech full of historic throwbacks,' wrote O'Leary in a post on X. 'It was direct, action-packed, and all about what's happening now.' In January 2017, O'Leary announced that he would be running for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. 'I am a successful Canadian businessman with a great deal of international experience. I have seen first-hand Trudeau's gross economic mismanagement, and the effect it is having on our country. Many Canadians were optimistic when Trudeau promised them he would balance the budget by 2019. That is not what happened,' he said in a post on his website. 'I have spent a lifetime fighting on behalf of investors, but the outcome of the next election is too important to the future of our country. I have had enough of Trudeau's mismanagement, so I have decided to fight for all Canadians.' Three months later, he dropped out of the race. At a news conference in Toronto, he said, per the National Post, 'It's selfish to just take the leadership and say, 'Great, I'm the leader, now in 24 months I will lose for the party. That's not right. That's just wrong.' In the summer of 2019, O'Leary and his wife Linda, were involved in a boat crash that left two dead in Ontario's cottage country. The incident occurred at night time, with O'Leary's wife as the driver, when the two boats collided. A judge ruled in 2021 that Linda was not 'guilty of operating a vessel in a careless manner,' the National Post reported. O'Leary attended the University of Waterloo, where he received an Honours Bachelors degree Environmental Studies and Psychology in 1977. He then attended the Ivey Business School at Western University. He received his Masters in Business Administration in 1980, according to an archived Ivey webpage. While he was earning his MBA, O'Leary interned at snack manufacturer Nabisco, per his bio on his website. He was one of the founders of Softkey in 1986, when he collaborated 'in a basement with his business partners,' his bio says. In 1999, SoftKey, which later acquired The Learning Company and took its name, was purchased by toy company Mattel for $4.2 billion. He also hosted CBC business show The Lang and O'Leary Exchange. In an interview with Boston Magazine, he said his nickname Mr. Wonderful was coined by fellow 'shark' and entrepreneur Barbara Corcoran, who jokingly called him Mr. Wonderful after he 'proposed an aggressive 51 percent equity position (on a deal) because (he) wanted control of the business.' 'Now it's at a whole new level,' he said in the 2013 interview. 'I show up at hotels and my reservation is under the name Mr. Wonderful. They don't even know my real name. That's just nuts.' Kevin O'Leary is on a mission to revive Canada and he's starting in Alberta 'Why are we upset at Canada? This is stupid,' says American podcaster Joe Rogan Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mr. Wonderful talks 'excitement' around cryptocurrency under Trump: America is in a 'new phase'
Mr. Wonderful is casting a glimmering light on the cryptocurrency industry, arguing it is entering a "new phase" under the Trump administration. "The reason they're not comfortable with it right now is they've watched the cowboy era of crypto, but all the crypto cowboys are in jail or out of business. So now we're in a new phase. There's a new tone with the government. Trump has put it forward," O'Leary Ventures chairman Kevin O'Leary said on "My View with Lara Trump" Saturday. "They're going to provide regulations to allow this to become integrated with the financial institutions of America. It's going to become a payment system, an investment vehicle. It's going to become part of all the sectors of our economy. We have 11 sectors. Eventually, I believe crypto will be the 12th." Trump's Crypto Czar Decries Government's Lack Of Bitcoin 'Long-term Strategy' President Donald Trump made headlines on the campaign trail last year for embracing the crypto industry as a key issue for the 2024 election. During an address at the world's largest bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee in July, Trump vowed for the U.S. to become the "crypto capital of the planet" and a "bitcoin superpower of the world." Read On The Fox News App The now-47th president has made good on many of his crypto promises since taking office in January. Trump Creates Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, Other Cryptocurrencies To Be Used In Stockpile President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve last week, just a day before the first-of-its-kind crypto summit. "A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA," Trump wrote. "I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" he added. Crypto czar David Sacks celebrated the move via a post on X. "The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. This means it will not cost taxpayers a dime," he wrote. "It is estimated that the U.S. government owns about 200,000 bitcoin; however, there has never been a complete audit. The E.O. directs a full accounting of the federal government's digital asset holdings. The U.S. will not sell any bitcoin deposited into the Reserve. It will be kept as a store of value. The Reserve is like a digital Fort Knox for the cryptocurrency often called 'digital gold.'" "The big news is that this will be the first administration that's going to say this sector belongs in America. The development should be here. The technology should be mastered here. We should lead the world in it. Other administrations didn't do that, and I think we should celebrate it because I think we shouldn't fall behind on this," O'Leary told Fox News host Lara Trump during his interview at Pubkey bitcoin bar in New York City. Pubkey co-owner Thomas Pacchia also weighed in on the future of crypto under Trump, noting the leadership under President Biden was "atrocious." "For four years, it was a very aggressive administration. I think the biggest win was just moving on from that and not getting stuck with another 4 or 8 years of that. It was very, very punitive. And there was no conversation. It wasn't something that you could go and talk about with the administration." Trump's return to the Oval Office is a "massive seat change for the industry," Pacchia added. FOX Business' Anders Hagstrom and Suzanne O'Halloran contributed to this report. Original article source: Mr. Wonderful talks 'excitement' around cryptocurrency under Trump: America is in a 'new phase'
Fox News
16-03-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Mr. Wonderful talks 'excitement' around cryptocurrency under Trump: America is in a 'new phase'
Mr. Wonderful is casting a glimmering light on the cryptocurrency industry, arguing it is entering a "new phase" under the Trump administration. "The reason they're not comfortable with it right now is they've watched the cowboy era of crypto, but all the crypto cowboys are in jail or out of business. So now we're in a new phase. There's a new tone with the government. Trump has put it forward," O'Leary Ventures chairman Kevin O'Leary said on "My View with Lara Trump" Saturday. "They're going to provide regulations to allow this to become integrated with the financial institutions of America. It's going to become a payment system, an investment vehicle. It's going to become part of all the sectors of our economy. We have 11 sectors. Eventually, I believe crypto will be the 12th." President Donald Trump made headlines on the campaign trail last year for embracing the crypto industry as a key issue for the 2024 election. During an address at the world's largest bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee in July, Trump vowed for the U.S. to become the "crypto capital of the planet" and a "bitcoin superpower of the world." The now-47th president has made good on many of his crypto promises since taking office in January. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve last week, just a day before the first-of-its-kind crypto summit. "A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA," Trump wrote. "I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" he added. Crypto czar David Sacks celebrated the move via a post on X. "The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. This means it will not cost taxpayers a dime," he wrote. "It is estimated that the U.S. government owns about 200,000 bitcoin; however, there has never been a complete audit. The E.O. directs a full accounting of the federal government's digital asset holdings. The U.S. will not sell any bitcoin deposited into the Reserve. It will be kept as a store of value. The Reserve is like a digital Fort Knox for the cryptocurrency often called 'digital gold.'" "The big news is that this will be the first administration that's going to say this sector belongs in America. The development should be here. The technology should be mastered here. We should lead the world in it. Other administrations didn't do that, and I think we should celebrate it because I think we shouldn't fall behind on this," O'Leary told Fox News host Lara Trump during his interview at Pubkey bitcoin bar in New York City. Pubkey co-owner Thomas Pacchia also weighed in on the future of crypto under Trump, noting the leadership under President Biden was "atrocious." "For four years, it was a very aggressive administration. I think the biggest win was just moving on from that and not getting stuck with another 4 or 8 years of that. It was very, very punitive. And there was no conversation. It wasn't something that you could go and talk about with the administration." Trump's return to the Oval Office is a "massive seat change for the industry," Pacchia added.
