Kevin O’Leary, also known as “Mr. Wonderful” from the TV show Shark Tank, believes that cryptocurrency will become the 12th major sector of the U.S. economy within the next five years.
In a recent interview before his May 15 speech at Consensus 2025 in Toronto, O’Leary said, “I see crypto as a new part of the economy very soon.”
With Bitcoin prices close to $100,000 again, O’Leary is increasing his investment in digital assets. He has put 19% of his money into crypto and related companies like Coinbase, Robinhood, and WonderFi.
He explained that exchanges make money whether crypto prices go up or down, because they earn from people trading. “Volatility is good for exchanges,” he said.
For passive income, O’Leary prefers holding the stablecoin USDC instead of keeping money in a savings account. “USDC gives a return of 3.822% today — that’s better than a bank,” he said. He also owns shares in Circle, the company behind USDC.
Even though he supports Bitcoin, he doesn’t like Bitcoin ETFs, which charge extra fees. “Why would anyone buy Bitcoin through an ETF and pay fees? Just buy Bitcoin directly,” he said.
He also mentioned MicroStrategy and its leader, Michael Saylor. “He’s smart,” O’Leary said, “but I’d rather just own Bitcoin myself.”
O’Leary believes that clear rules and regulation are needed for big investors to enter the crypto space. “There are trillions of dollars waiting,” he said, “but they can’t invest until there are proper rules like those for stocks and bonds.”
He’s hopeful that U.S. lawmakers will soon create laws for stablecoins. If that happens, he says, “you should invest in exchanges.”
He ended by saying the wild, unregulated days of crypto are over. “The crypto cowboys are gone. Now we need proper rules and compliance,” he said.
