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- "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary told a Reddit Talk session his crypto holdings now make up 10% of his portfolio.
- He said this was down to the appreciation in value of the cryptocurrencies he owns, rather than his increasing his exposure.
- O'Leary said he owns bitcoin, ether and stablecoin USDC.
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"Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary's cryptocurrency holdings now make up 10% of his portfolio, he said on a Reddit Talk session Thursday.
Once a crypto skeptic, now a vocal supporter of the sector, O'Leary said he has bought bitcoin, ether and USD coin, a stablecoin pegged to the dollar. But he declined to share all of his holdings in the online discussion about his investment strategy.
His portfolio has grown "remarkably," he said, but put this down to the appreciation in value of the cryptocurrencies he owns, rather than an increase in his exposure.
"At the beginning of the year, I was at 3% weighting," he said. "The target was to get 7% by year-end. However, because of the appreciation of so many of the assets I have now, we're almost at 10% today."
"So, we're going to end up at the end of the year with a very significant holding in crypto assets, and it's not just bitcoin," O'Leary said.
Bitcoin has notched new all-time highs in recent weeks, thanks to enthusiasm for the launch of related ETFs from ProShares (BITO) and Valkyrie (BTF), and for the upcoming "taproot" upgrade to its network. Meanwhile, ether - the native token for the ethereum network - has steadily risen to fresh records as more financial products backed by the coin look set to launch.
While the Canadian businessman holds ether, he acknowledges other cryptos also promise to play a part in decentralized finance. He has said the ethereum network is too slow. Solana is seen as faster and cheaper.
"Some people think the game is over, and ethereum is it, but I don't agree. There are many other alternatives, whether it be solana or anything else," he said. "If you're an investor like I am, you want diversification. That's the key."
O'Leary said he has holdings in companies developing crypto products such as decentralized wallets. He explained that he looks at the technology underlying the asset or product and its use cases.
"I am a software investor," O'Leary said. "I am going to put an allocation into the software of crypto because I believe it will change and be disruptive to a lot of different markets all around the world."
Questions he asks himself are: "Can I identify the best teams? The best developers? How do I invest in them? What ledger is that? Should I own a piece of that, too?"