Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary sounds major alarm on Circle and stablecoins originally appeared on TheStreet.
Kevin O’Leary, aka “Mr. Wonderful” from Shark Tank, has long been a bullish figure in finance, but in recent years, his views on cryptocurrency have taken a sharply strategic turn.
Initially dismissive, O’Leary is now heavily invested in both crypto and its infrastructure — treating blockchain not as a passing phase, but as a permanent pillar of his portfolio.
His journey into crypto wasn’t always smooth. Back in 2019, O’Leary called Bitcoin “worthless,” criticizing its volatility and likening it to a real estate investment in Switzerland with no hedge. But by 2021, he had pivoted. He allocated a portion of his portfolio to Bitcoin and even served as a spokesperson for the now-defunct exchange FTX, a decision that landed him in hot water after its collapse.
Join the discussion with CryptosRUson Roundtable here.
Still, O’Leary didn’t flinch. He doubled down, diversifying into digital platforms, stablecoins, and exchanges. He even began referring to crypto as his “12th sector” in the stock market. But in his most recent comments, O’Leary is sending a new kind of warning — this time not about Bitcoin’s risk, but about his own exposure to Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin.
Kevin O'Leary, Chairman of O'Leary Ventures, speaks before a Senate Committee on Aging and House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party joint hearing on April 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. Source: Getty Images ## Kevin O’Leary has blunt words on Circle
“Crypto to me today is a problem,” O’Leary said bluntly. “And I’ll tell you why — it has been so wildly successful over the last quarter that I’m way over sector allocation now.”
The core of the concern is Circle’s explosive performance, something even he didn’t fully anticipate.
“For example, I was a very early shareholder in Circle. I don’t know if you’ve seen what happened to that issue. It’s one of the most successful — oh, incredible — IPOs,” he said.
O’Leary explained that the success of Circle and the performance of stablecoins like USDC have forced him to rebalance.
“It’s gone way past its allocation,” he said. “The actual stablecoin itself, the holdings we had in stablecoins have been reallocated to cash equivalents. But we still had to sell down some positions to get under 20%.”
Kevin O’Leary says stablecoins are no longer ‘crypto’
O’Leary made it clear that his definition of crypto has shifted, especially after the passage of the Genius Act, which impacts the classification of certain digital assets.
“Luckily, because the Genius Act has been passed just the last 10 days ago, I don’t call stablecoins crypto anymore,” he said. “By the definition of crypto, they are basically a way to own a US Treasury. So it’s been able to be a cash equivalent.”
Story ContinuesThat reclassification gave him the room to treat stablecoin holdings as a cash-like asset but not without consequences. “I’ve generated a tremendous amount of cash in the last three weeks, which are actually held in USDC in stablecoins,” O’Leary noted.
Kevin O’Leary doubles down on crypto infrastructure
O’Leary’s exposure to Circle is just one piece of a much bigger infrastructure play. He sees long-term value not just in assets like Bitcoin, but in the companies powering the digital finance ecosystem.
“I bought the infrastructure of crypto,” he said. “Circle is an infrastructure company. I also own the exchanges — Coinbase, Robinhood — and Wondery, and Canada has just been bought by Robinhood. They were half the holdings.”
Related: What is Crypto? Cryptocurrency explained
But he’s also looking beyond crypto — into AI-powered real estate and data infrastructure.
“If I want to play the long‑term... I need to own data centres,” he said. “I need to own power contracts that power the data centres... I’ve set up a whole team that just analyses data centre sites… and negotiates power contracts and permits and fibre contracts and water permits.”
“I’ve been doing real estate my entire investing life, but I’ve never seen an asset class in real estate more complicated than this one. This is incredible.”
Kevin O’Leary’s comments come at a time when Bitcoin is trading above $115,500, buoyed by strong market demand and institutional interest.
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary sounds major alarm on Circle and stablecoins first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 19, 2025
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
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Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary sounds major alarm on Circle and stablecoins
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary sounds major alarm on Circle and stablecoins originally appeared on TheStreet.
Kevin O’Leary, aka “Mr. Wonderful” from Shark Tank, has long been a bullish figure in finance, but in recent years, his views on cryptocurrency have taken a sharply strategic turn.
Initially dismissive, O’Leary is now heavily invested in both crypto and its infrastructure — treating blockchain not as a passing phase, but as a permanent pillar of his portfolio.
His journey into crypto wasn’t always smooth. Back in 2019, O’Leary called Bitcoin “worthless,” criticizing its volatility and likening it to a real estate investment in Switzerland with no hedge. But by 2021, he had pivoted. He allocated a portion of his portfolio to Bitcoin and even served as a spokesperson for the now-defunct exchange FTX, a decision that landed him in hot water after its collapse.
Join the discussion with CryptosRUs on Roundtable here.
Still, O’Leary didn’t flinch. He doubled down, diversifying into digital platforms, stablecoins, and exchanges. He even began referring to crypto as his “12th sector” in the stock market. But in his most recent comments, O’Leary is sending a new kind of warning — this time not about Bitcoin’s risk, but about his own exposure to Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin.
Kevin O'Leary, Chairman of O'Leary Ventures, speaks before a Senate Committee on Aging and House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party joint hearing on April 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. Source: Getty Images ## Kevin O’Leary has blunt words on Circle
“Crypto to me today is a problem,” O’Leary said bluntly. “And I’ll tell you why — it has been so wildly successful over the last quarter that I’m way over sector allocation now.”
The core of the concern is Circle’s explosive performance, something even he didn’t fully anticipate.
“For example, I was a very early shareholder in Circle. I don’t know if you’ve seen what happened to that issue. It’s one of the most successful — oh, incredible — IPOs,” he said.
O’Leary explained that the success of Circle and the performance of stablecoins like USDC have forced him to rebalance.
“It’s gone way past its allocation,” he said. “The actual stablecoin itself, the holdings we had in stablecoins have been reallocated to cash equivalents. But we still had to sell down some positions to get under 20%.”
Kevin O’Leary says stablecoins are no longer ‘crypto’
O’Leary made it clear that his definition of crypto has shifted, especially after the passage of the Genius Act, which impacts the classification of certain digital assets.
“Luckily, because the Genius Act has been passed just the last 10 days ago, I don’t call stablecoins crypto anymore,” he said. “By the definition of crypto, they are basically a way to own a US Treasury. So it’s been able to be a cash equivalent.”
Story ContinuesThat reclassification gave him the room to treat stablecoin holdings as a cash-like asset but not without consequences. “I’ve generated a tremendous amount of cash in the last three weeks, which are actually held in USDC in stablecoins,” O’Leary noted.
Kevin O’Leary doubles down on crypto infrastructure
O’Leary’s exposure to Circle is just one piece of a much bigger infrastructure play. He sees long-term value not just in assets like Bitcoin, but in the companies powering the digital finance ecosystem.
“I bought the infrastructure of crypto,” he said. “Circle is an infrastructure company. I also own the exchanges — Coinbase, Robinhood — and Wondery, and Canada has just been bought by Robinhood. They were half the holdings.”
Related: What is Crypto? Cryptocurrency explained
But he’s also looking beyond crypto — into AI-powered real estate and data infrastructure.
“If I want to play the long‑term... I need to own data centres,” he said. “I need to own power contracts that power the data centres... I’ve set up a whole team that just analyses data centre sites… and negotiates power contracts and permits and fibre contracts and water permits.”
“I’ve been doing real estate my entire investing life, but I’ve never seen an asset class in real estate more complicated than this one. This is incredible.”
Kevin O’Leary’s comments come at a time when Bitcoin is trading above $115,500, buoyed by strong market demand and institutional interest.
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary sounds major alarm on Circle and stablecoins first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 19, 2025
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
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