Kevin O’Leary believes that U.S. lawmakers are “tired” and “angry” about the cryptocurrency industry after having to deal with one bombing after another. Shark Tank investor and venture capitalist Kevin O'Leary urges cryptocurrency exchanges to "get into regulation" if they want to "stay away" from Gary Gensler and the SEC.
In a Feb. 20 interview with TraderTV Live, O'Leary said U.S. lawmakers are "tired" of the crypto debacle and will only grow more ruthless if companies continue to fail to comply: “You got to get on board with regulation, you got to stay out of the way of Gensler at the SEC and other regulators. Those hombres [men] in Washington are not happy. FTX poked the bear, the bear is awake, and it is pissed.”
“These senators are really tired, they’re really tired of having meetings every six months when the next crypto company goes down and goes to zero,” he said, adding, “Because they’re completely unregulated, they’ve been are issuing worthless tokens.” O'Leary said the SEC's $30 million hit to Kraken and ordering them to immediately cease their staking service should put the industry on its toes and make every effort to comply. In light of the recent regulatory crackdown, Shark Tank investors predict that regulated exchanges will be better investments than unregulated exchanges in the next few years.
O'Leary recently admitted that he lost essentially 100% of the $15 million FTX paid him to be its official spokesperson. Despite acknowledging that FTX was a "terrible" investment, Mr. Wonderful went on to defend former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, claiming the controversial figure had should be presumed innocent before, adding that he does not rule out investing in entrepreneurs who have failed again. Shark Tank investors have also previously expressed dislike for some of the more fragmented, unregulated players in the industry.
On Aug. 13, O'Leary said Dutch authorities were right to arrest Alexey Pertsev, creator of the Ethereum-based crypto mixer Tornado Cash, because such applications and the "crypto cowboys" who run them "disrupt the original rules of regulation." strength. "
