Bitcoin and cryptocurrency price predictions have been pouring in over the last few months—with Tesla TSLA +0.3 percent bull Cathie Wood offering a bold prediction this week.
The bitcoin price boom that propelled the world’s largest cryptocurrency to a value of more than $1 trillion has slowed in recent months, with the bitcoin price falling below $50,000, giving bitcoin a market capitalization of roughly $900 billion.
Kevin O’Leary, a celebrity investor, and Shark Tank star have now stated that he anticipates “another trillion dollars’ worth of buying” into bitcoin and intends to increase his holdings to 7% by the end of 2021, up from 3% currently.
“This is not going away; this is the new asset class,” O’Leary told CNBC this week, predicting that when regulators finally classify bitcoin and cryptocurrency as an institutional asset class, there will be “trillions of dollars of interest waiting to join” and “another trillion dollars worth of [bitcoin] buying.”
O’Leary did caution, though, that while he expects regulators to recognize cryptocurrencies as an institutional asset class, he is uncertain when that would occur.
“I don’t want to get involved in crypto if the regulator says it’s not okay,” O’Leary said. “I can’t afford to be offside, I cannot afford to be non-compliant.”
This week, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler called for increased resources to effectively oversee the young cryptocurrency industry and markets, which he likened to the “Wild West,” in response to allegations that the regulator is failing to protect investors.
However, O’Leary is optimistic that he will continue to invest in bitcoin and cryptocurrency. “By the end of the year, I intend to increase my exposure to crypto from 3% to 7%,” he continued.
O’Leary, who previously stated that bitcoin is “trash” and “worthless,” has changed his tune on bitcoin and cryptocurrency in the last year, joining fellow Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban.
Cuban said in August that shutting down bitcoin and crypto’s “growth engine” would be akin to “shutting down e-commerce in 1995” in response to US senators proposing a crypto tax provision in their $1 trillion infrastructure plan.
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