O’Leary, the chairman of O’Shares Investments Advisers, believes in NFTs because they can digitally establish ownership of real-world objects like fancy watches or flash automobiles rather than using paper records.
“You’re going to see a lot of movement in terms of performing authentication, insurance policies, and real estate transfer taxes all online over the next few years,” O’Leary said on CNBC’s “Capital Connection” Wednesday, making NFTs a far broader, more fluid market than bitcoin alone.
“We’ll see what happens,” he says, “but I’m betting and investing on both sides of that issue.”
In 2020, few people had heard of NFTs, but they became a massive craze the following year. According to some estimates, more than $20 billion worth of tokens changed hands in 2021. After a collage by digital artist Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, was sold for a record $69 million, the trend garnered much attention.
However, there are doubts regarding the market’s long-term viability. Some have linked it to the 2017 initial coin offering frenzy, in which some investors were scammed by uncontrolled token sales betting on start-ups. Meanwhile, several scams and cases of stolen art have surfaced, raising warning signals for some traders.
Change of heart
After earlier calling bitcoin “trash,” the multimillionaire Canadian investor has altered his mind about crypto.
In May 2019, O’Leary told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the currency was “useless.” “It’s a waste of time.”
O’Leary has recently warmed on to the market, seeing it as a way to diversify away from other assets such as real estate in the face of rising inflation. He’s particularly enthusiastic about “decentralized finance,” a strategy using blockchain to imitate traditional financial products.
O’Leary recently revealed that ether is his largest holding, although he also holds polygon, Solana, and bitcoin.
O’Leary has written over 40% of new checks for crypto and blockchain-related enterprises in the previous six months.
Regulation
O’Leary emphasized the significance of ensuring that cryptocurrency is regulated. Regulators in the United States and others are scrambling to keep up with market developments to prevent money laundering and protect consumers.
“Different geographies have different crypto policies,” O’Leary explained. “You should seek out jurisdictions that are more progressive.”
He used his native nation of Canada as an example of a more progressive jurisdiction on the topic of cryptocurrency than others.
Canada was the first to approve a bitcoin-related exchange-traded fund (ETF). Though the Securities and Exchange Commission has since approved a bitcoin-linked ETF, it follows futures contracts rather than investing directly in bitcoin.
According to O’Leary, other countries opening up to crypto include the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.
“You have to be upbeat and productive,” stated O’Leary. “A deluge of capital will flow in through sovereign and pension plans that do not yet exist.”
Stablecoins, digital tokens tethered to the value of national currencies like the dollar, are a particular concern to regulators. Economists are concerned that popular stablecoins like tether and USD Coin may lack the necessary reserves to back up their promises of being backed by dollars.
“I think [stablecoins] will shine as a terrific method to obtain yield when you can’t get any yield on cash,” O’Leary remarked.