Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, says he will never buy a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) as he is holding bitcoin for the long term as digital gold. “Why would I pay these fees?” he said, adding that spot bitcoin ETFs “add no value” and are “completely unnecessary.” However, the Shark Tank star explained that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving spot bitcoin ETFs is great news for institutional investors looking to get into crypto.
Kevin O’Leary Won’t Invest in Spot Bitcoin ETFs
Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, gave some advice regarding spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in an interview with Fox Business last week. The chairman of O’shares Investments and O’Leary Ventures was asked how investors should decide whether to invest in a spot bitcoin ETF and how to choose among the 11 funds that were approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week.
“Well, they are almost identical even though each of the vendors would tell you they are not,” he began. The Shark Tank star proceeded to emphasize that each spot bitcoin ETF has a fee that investors should pay attention to. “You want to look at what the fee structure is,” he advised, noting that the 11 spot bitcoin ETFs have fees ranging from around 0.21% to 1.5%. O’Leary opined:
If you are a purist and you’re just holding bitcoin for the long term as a digital gold, as I am, I will never buy an ETF. Why would I pay these fees? It’s completely unnecessary. They add no value to me.
“The great news in this event is it shows a march forward on regulations toward cryptocurrency,” Mr. Wonderful noted.
Regarding the approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFs, O’Leary stressed: “Not a chance they all survive.” He advised investors to watch their assets under management (AUM). Mr. Wonderful continued:
Maybe two or three will win. I’d bet that behemoths like Fidelity and Blackrock end up on top because they have massive sales forces.
Nonetheless, O’Leary said: “Institutions don’t care about this. They don’t care because they’ll never buy an ETF. They’ll never pay the fees.” However, he noted that the SEC approving spot bitcoin ETFS is “great news,” emphasizing that institutional investors like this development. “This is a good thing for them to eventually get into crypto,” the Shark Tank star concluded.
Earlier this month, O’Leary said he anticipates strong institutional interest in crypto regardless of the SEC decision on spot bitcoin ETFs. In November last year, he revealed that “all” of the institutions and major organizations that he had talked to are prepared to invest in bitcoin. “They aren’t interested in the 10,000 token story,” he said. “Bitcoin is proving itself to be liquid enough, it’s proving itself to be a storage of wealth, most people consider it a commodity.”
Source: Bitcoin
