Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary: NFTs Could Become Bigger Than Bitcoin

Original author: Dimitar Dzhondzhorov

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The prominent TV personality – Kevin O’Leary – believes non-fungible tokens could emerge as a “much bigger, more fluid market” than bitcoin. His prediction comes as a surprise since last summer, the Canadian businessman stated that nothing has the chance to replace the primary cryptocurrency.

O’Leary’s Most Recent Forecast

Kevin O’Leary, a.k.a Mr. Wonerful, is another prominent figure who has displayed mixed feelings towards the cryptocurrency industry over the years. His first opinion about the world of crypto came in 2019 when he described bitcoin as “worthless.” He also called it “garbage because you can’t get in and out of it in large amounts.”

At the beginning of 2021, though, he made a U-turn, saying he respects bitcoin. A few months later, he announced his entrance into the BTC ecosystem by allocating 3% of his portfolio to it.

During a January 5 interview for CNBC, O’Leary – known as one of the hosts in the reality TV show Shark Tank – spoke about non-fungible tokens and their potential growth in the following years. Similar to 2021, NFTs will continue being highly popular and could even become a bigger market than bitcoin, the Canadian opined.

His belief in digital collectibles stems from the idea that they can prove ownership of real-world items, such as cars or watches:

“You’re going to see a lot of movement in terms of doing authentication and insurance policies and real estate transfer taxes all online over the next few years, making NFTs a much bigger, more fluid market potentially than just bitcoin alone.”

In conclusion, Mr. Wonderful said he is “investing on both sides of that equation.”

A few months back, Shark Tank’s host had a somewhat different stance on the matter, stating that the primary cryptocurrency is the right long-term investment tool. Comparing it to other digital assets such as Ether, he said:

“That’s the gold standard of digital currency. Nothing else is going to replace it.”

What Does Mr.Wonderful Not Like?

Apart from bitcoin and non-fungible tokens, O’Leary is a keen proponent of other digital assets, including Ether, Solana, and Circle’s stablecoin pegged to the US dollar – USDC.

However, there is one token that he is not in favor of – Dogecoin. According to Mr. Wonderful, investing in the memecoin is no different than gambling. He went further, saying that DOGE has no inherent value and should be classified as pure speculation:

“When you speculate on something like Dogecoin – that’s no different than going to Las Vegas and putting your money on red or black – it’s a pure speculation.”