- O’Leary isn’t a believer in any cryptocurrency
- Mr. Wonderful’s views towards crypto changed after he failed to buy real estate in Switzerland with it.
On Tuesday, Shark Tank’s investor Kevin O’Leary told CNBC that Bitcoin is a “digital game” and is “worthless”. O’Leary said on Squawk Box:
“It is a useless currency. To me, it’s garbage, because you can’t get in and out of it in large amounts.”
His views towards cryptos soured because he was unsuccessful in buying Swiss real estate using bitcoin. O’Leary, popularly known as “Mr. Wonderful” stated:
“Let’s say you want to buy a piece of real estate for $10 million in Switzerland. They want a guarantee that the value comes back to the U.S. currency. You have to somehow hedge the risk of bitcoin. That means it’s not a real currency. That means the receiver is not willing to take the risk of the volatility it has. It’s worthless.”
O’Leary also revealed that he invested in cryptocurrency as part of a challenge when he taught a class at Harvard University:
“I bought all the crypto crap. I put $100 in. It’s now worth $30. That’s a 70% loss. People should understand today the hot digital is bitcoin. Tomorrow it could be whatever.”