Kevin O’Leary has returned to buying new cryptocurrency positions for the next market cycle, telling The Block at the Avalanche Summit in New York on September 18 that he is “back in the saddle buying new positions, putting my bets on for this next cycle.” The O’Leary Ventures chairman said his focus is on identifying which blockchain will gain broad adoption and in which sector it will happen. He added that conversations with CEOs across industries have not produced a clear consensus: “none of them are saying the same thing.”
O’Leary called the first major stock exchange adoption of a blockchain a potential “watershed moment” for the industry. He explained that once an exchange chooses a network, companies that interact with that venue would have an incentive to use infrastructure meeting the same technical and compliance requirements. He pointed to existing moves: the New York Stock Exchange has been developing onchain settlement infrastructure for tokenized securities, with NYSE President Lynn Martin saying in August that work continues on a dedicated digital trading platform. Intercontinental Exchange, NYSE’s parent company, agreed to invest in tZERO and license its blockchain patents. Nasdaq has taken a separate route, with Nasdaq Ventures agreeing in early September to invest $100 million in Kraken parent Payward at a $21 billion valuation, with Nasdaq Equity Tokens expected to launch in the second quarter of 2027. The SEC has also granted tokenized securities venues five years of conditional relief to trade eligible tokenized U.S. stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools.
On regulation, O’Leary said he does not expect the CLARITY Act to pass before the midterms after the Senate failed to advance the bill this week. A cloture motion fell short of the 60 votes needed, receiving 50 votes to 49. He argued that digital asset tax policy will keep regulation on the agenda: “If you’re going to provide a tax policy on this asset, you want more regulation, not less.” The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act by a 38 to 5 vote on September 16. The proposal includes a $10 exception for qualifying blockchain network and transaction fees, and rules covering wash sales, stablecoins, crypto lending, mining, staking and broker reporting. Seven Senate Democrats have also signaled that negotiations are not over.
For Bitcoin, O’Leary said he sees potential for the largest cryptocurrency by market cap to account for 1% to 3% of alternative-asset allocations, comparing it with institutional gold holdings. He previously said in February that some institutions were reluctant to move beyond roughly 3% BTC exposure because of concerns about quantum computing and long-term network security. Outside crypto, he said his AI investments are focused on power infrastructure rather than models, including projects in Norway, Finland, Alberta and Utah, as well as uranium.
