Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary wants to ‘own the baseline infrastructure of crypto'

Chairman of O’Shares and Beanstox, Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, best known as a panelist on the reality series Shark Tank, told CryptoSlate what led him to take equity exposure to the blockchain infrastructure.

O’Leary revealed why he backed Jordan Fried’s blockchain portfolio holding company, Immutable Holdings, which had a public debut in September.

Democratizing blockchain investing

“Immutable Holdings has diversification in it, which I like, and ultimately the diverse nature of this company combined with the exciting growth the blockchain and digital asset space is already seeing informed my decision to invest in Immutable Holdings, O’Leary told CryptoSlate, when asked about his decision to back Fried’s company.

“I’ve been raising my position in the crypto infrastructure space throughout this year. I’m not just looking for investments in coins or tokens, though those investments can be valuable. I want to own the baseline infrastructure of crypto, which is blockchain, and while owning blockchain isn’t necessarily more important than owning crypto, it allows for a more holistic view,” added O’Leary.

Mr. Wonderful has been open about increasing his exposure to crypto, strategically investing in a wide range of different crypto products.

For the first time ever, my crypto exposure is greater than gold @DanielaCambone @WonderFi @ImmutableHold @BenSamaroo @jordanfried https://t.co/Afhz59Fljv
— Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) October 2, 2021

Streamlining crypto exposure

“Up until now, there hasn’t been a great way to take exposure to the blockchain industry aside from buying some of the bitcoin mining companies that are public or public companies like Coinbase,” said Jordan Fried, CEO of Immutable Holdings, told CryptoSlate.

“We’re the first blockchain portfolio holding company with brands like NFT.com, 1800Bitcoin, and others, that has come to the public market, and we’re democratizing blockchain investing through products that make investing in digital assets accessible and easy,” Fried added.

“The next few years are going to be very big for digital assets and blockchain, and we’re getting in on the ground floor of that momentum,” concluded Fried, underscoring the strategic importance of owning blockchain equity.

Don’t just own cryptocurrency. Own blockchain equity. https://t.co/hXlvT5oGWr
— Jordan Fried (@jordanfried) October 8, 2021

NFT.com

While securing the NFT.com domain early on, Fried envisioned building a business around the ecosystem of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), by creating a new generation marketplace.

“NFT.com’s profile-based, the user-friendly model creates more opportunities to dive into the buying, selling, and speculating of NFTs with some of the biggest brand names on the planet,” Fried commented on one of Immutable Holding’s key breakout subsidiary businesses.

According to Mr. Wonderful, NFTs are fated for inevitable mainstream adoption.

“The utility of NFTs is infinite and exciting. Obviously, as a watch collector, I’m very interested in their utility in authenticating rare and valuable watches. But others may find NFTs more useful for rental leases, concert tickets, or deeds to a piece of land,” said O’Leary, while explaining why he is bullish on NFTs.

“We’re at an exciting point for NFTs now in which we know they can be used for more than just rare artwork, which is why what NFT.com will bring to market is simply game-changing,” he added, commenting on the new platform in the works.