'Shark Tank' star changes tune on Bitcoin, will allocate 3% of his portfolio

Businessman Kevin O'Leary, who appears on the reality TV show Shark Tank and once called Bitcoin a “giant nothing burger,” has now joined the laser eye community.

In a tweet yesterday, O'Leary said he would be allocating 3% of his portfolio to Bitcoin (BTC) and looking into investing in sustainable crypto mining. He said his investment in the latter would be aimed to avoid “blood coins” — a reference to unethically mined diamonds — and “under a mandate of 0 carbon.” Both O'Leary’s Instagram and Twitter profile pictures now show the Shark Tank star with the laser eyes associated with those keen on crypto.

O'Leary’s about-face on BTC seems to have been at least partially influenced by Dan Loeb, CEO of New York-based asset management firm Third Point and a well-known figure on Wall Street. Yesterday, Loeb said he would be "doing a deep dive into crypto" and look into ways to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets.

“Every operating company I'm an investor in is having their Daniel Loeb ‘moment’ regarding putting Bitcoin on their balance sheet,” said O’Leary. “Changes in the regulatory environment have changed my mind about participating.”

Loeb’s potential inclusion in the crypto space as a Wall Street figure had some speculating he could pave the way for other major investors still hesitant about the technology and what it means for traditional finance. For an investor like O’Leary, with an estimated net worth of more than $400 million, this could be particularly profitable.

The Shark Tank star has said he already owned some BTC and would consider investing more, but he did not seem particularly bullish on crypto as recently as January. He previously referred to digital assets as “crypto crap” and specifically called Bitcoin “not a real currency” and a “giant nothing burger” in terms of its value as an asset.