Bitcoin (BTC) Is Irrelevant to Financial Markets Says Chairman of O’Shares ETFs

On a Christmas eve debate on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Chairman O’Shares ETFs Kevin O’Leary had some interesting views on Bitcoin (BTC) taking shots at the world’s largest cryptocurrency. While previously saying that Bitcoin is not a “real currency”, O’Leary goes further and says that Bitcoin is “irrelevant to financial markets”.

Showing his crypto wallet, he says he invested $100 across multiple digital assets including Bitcoin. Unfortunately, the real value of his investment has turned out to be $52.77. Holding not so good views about crypto in general, O’Leary says: “I’m involved in this because it’s fun but this is not an institutional product.”

"I've been a cryptonian for years," says @kevinolearytv. "I put $100 to work here. This morning it is worth $52.77 because not all cryptocurrencies are the same clearly…I'm involved in this because it's fun but this is not an institutional product." pic.twitter.com/eKxUTkr3hF

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) December 24, 2020

O’Leary goes on to add that one cannot see Bitcoin as a ‘fiduciary” product. He adds that if Bitcoin gets regulated anytime in the future, the agencies could possibly slap several class-action lawsuits which might then cut its price to half or maybe zero.

Well, this doesn’t seem to be happening ahead looking at the way institutional penetration has happened in BTC this year. If not trillions, there’s already billions-of-dollars worth of institutional money at stake now. Moreover, the flood of money coming to Bitcoin has just accelerated in Q4 2020.

Sharing the screen with O’Leary was a Bitcoin evangelist and entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano. Pomp adds that during these uncertain times of financial crisis, Bitcoin beats every other asset class and every other market index by a sizeable margin. Calling the market as the referee to decide the right thing, he notes that

“The market has rendered a decisive victory for Bitcoiners. In a time of crisis, in a time where people were uncertain, in a time where people were looking for safe haven assets- capital flowed to the hardest money that’s ever been created. Bitcoin (BTC) is just getting started,” he adds.

"The market has rendered a decisive victory for the bitcoiners," says @apompliano. "In a time of crisis, in a time where people were uncertain, in a time where people were looking for safe haven assets- capital flowed to the hardest money that's ever been created." #btc #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/GOdgCCbLKo

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) December 24, 2020

Bitcoin Is Here to Stay

In an interesting piece, Bloomberg’s Eddie van der Walt writes that Bitcoin’s 224% rally this year goes to prove that it is here to stay. He adds that Bitcoiners treat BTC’s “near-fatal” volatility as “mere flesh wounds”. However, the author goes on to appreciate the asset class’s longevity. In the recently published story, the author notes:

“Bitcoin’s market capitalization reached $1 billion in March 2013, there have been two cycles of spikes to record highs, followed by drawdowns of more than 80%. Each of those cycles were preceded by a halving of the block reward.The first cycle could be dismissed as an anomaly, the second as a coincidence. But a halving again occurred in May, and the cycle is repeating before our eyes with the cryptocurrency coming within a whisker of the all-time peak last week. To ignore it now is to dismiss the evidence of history”.

After slipping below $23,000 levels earlier today, the BTC price has recovered marginally. At press time, BTC is trading at $23,272 with a market cap of $430 billion. Bitcoin has managed to hold itself relatively well during the recent market correction while extending its market dominance to 69%.