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Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary told Fox Business on Thursday that he would never buy a bitcoin ETF.
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He said paying the fee was “completely unnecessary,” noting that he already owned the token.
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But he welcomed the approval of ETFs as a meaningful step in improving cryptocurrency regulation in the United States.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs may be a milestone in the U.S. cryptocurrency industry, but “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary doesn’t see much point in joining the craze.
This is because ETF issuers charge fees, although some offer temporary exemptions.
“If you were a fundamentalist and held bitcoin long term like digital gold, I would never buy an ETF,” he told Fox Business on Thursday. “Why would I pay these fees? They are completely unnecessary and add no value to me.”
Meanwhile, he sees little chance that all 11 Bitcoin ETFs approved by the SEC on Wednesday will “survive.”
Instead, he expects two or three from the group to appear, echoing Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz’s predictions.
“I bet giant companies like Fidelity and BlackRock will end up at the top because they have massive sales forces,” O’Leary said.
Despite his personal skepticism about investing in new ETFs, he still views their regulatory approval as a meaningful step in the development of the cryptocurrency industry.
O’Leary hopes ETFs can also motivate lawmakers to consider digital payments systems, such as the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC.
“Now, we have this important occasion, which is great,” he said. “But we are still very early, we are in the first half.”
Meanwhile, O’Leary said in a separate interview with CoinDesk that bitcoin has the potential to triple its price by 2030, reaching $150,000-$250,000.
But he said Cathie Wood’s bullish case of Bitcoin reaching $1.5 million by 2030 would only happen in the event of economic catastrophe.
“For Bitcoin to rise so quickly to this price means the US economy has faltered in one way or another in my view,” he said. “So no, I don’t agree with that price point.”
Read the original article on Business Insider