TheBlock
Kevin O'Leary told The Block's Gareth Jenkinson at the Avalanche Summit in New York that he is buying new crypto positions for the next cycle, after a period on the sidelines. "I'm back in the saddle buying new positions, putting my bets on for this next cycle," the O'Leary Ventures chairman said, framing the next phase of crypto investing as a question of which blockchain captures wide adoption and in which sector rather than which token outperforms.
O'Leary said he can speak with CEOs across industries about the chains they are evaluating, but "none of them are saying the same thing." He described the first major stock exchange to adopt a blockchain as a "watershed moment" for the industry, because the broader financial ecosystem would then want that chain to comply with the exchange's standards. On regulation, O'Leary played down the recent setback for the Clarity Act, arguing that crypto rules will return to the agenda as lawmakers build out a tax framework for digital assets. He does not expect the Clarity Act to pass before the midterms.
Why it matters
O'Leary's framing shifts the investable thesis from token selection to infrastructure selection. If a major exchange listing imposes its compliance regime on a chosen chain, that chain inherits the regulatory floor of the listing venue, which compresses the gap between TradFi rails and crypto-native networks. His separate point on Bitcoin, that it could absorb 1% to 3% of institutional alternative-asset allocations alongside gold, anchors the demand thesis in allocator behavior rather than retail flows.
Market impact
The "watershed" framing puts the burden on TradFi infrastructure providers to pick a winner. Until that pick lands, allocators reading O'Leary's comments get a two-track read: a steady, slow-bid institutional Bitcoin allocation thesis in the 1-3% range, and a still-open question on which L1 captures the next wave of corporate treasury and exchange workflows.
Frequently asked questions
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What did Kevin O'Leary say about buying crypto at the Avalanche Summit?
O'Leary told The Block he is back buying new crypto positions for the next cycle after a period on the sidelines, saying "I'm back in the saddle buying new positions, putting my bets on for this next cycle."
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Why does O'Leary call a stock exchange adopting a blockchain a 'watershed moment'?
He argued that once a major exchange lists or adopts a blockchain, the broader financial ecosystem would want that chain to comply with the exchange's requirements, effectively forcing TradFi regulatory standards onto the chosen network.
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What is O'Leary's view on Bitcoin and institutional allocations?
O'Leary said he sees Bitcoin potentially accounting for 1% to 3% of institutional alternative-asset allocations, framing it as a complement to gold rather than a replacement.
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What did O'Leary say about the Clarity Act and crypto regulation?
He downplayed the recent setback for the Clarity Act, said crypto regulation will return to the agenda as lawmakers build a tax framework for digital assets, and predicted the Clarity Act will not pass before the midterms.
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Where is O'Leary putting his AI investments?
O'Leary said his AI bets are in power infrastructure rather than models, with projects spanning Norway, Finland, Alberta, Utah, and uranium, signaling a focus on compute inputs over application-layer plays.
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