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In recent months, conversations about the environmental impact of bitcoin have risen to national prominence.
In this “Bitcoin Magazine Podcast” episode, hosts David Zell and Matt Odell sat down with famed “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary to discuss that issue and more.
Though O’Leary is probably best known for his gig as a pitch evaluator and potential investor on ABC’s reality television series “Shark Tank,” the Canadian businessman cofounded technology company SoftKey Software Products, which was acquired by Mattel in 1999. Since then, he has launched numerous funds, appeared in several reality series and run for public office.
O’Leary had previously called bitcoins mined using fossil fuels “blood coins” and suggested that these coins and bitcoin mined with renewable energy may trade at different prices. In this interview, Mr. Wonderful walked back some of these positions, arguing that green mining will simply rise to meet growing demand.
Nonetheless, O’Leary’s conversations with institutional investors have led him to a stark conclusion — firms are increasingly bound by environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards, and major money is waiting on the sidelines to invest in bitcoin once these standards are met. Zell and Odell talked with O’Leary about what this may look like, as well as the broader landscape of institutional investment.
Also in this episode, O’Leary announced for the first time that he is looking to increase the bitcoin allocation of him portfolio from a current 3% allocation to 5%, and he discussed his current investments in the Bitcoin ecosystem. This was a great conversation, and you won’t want to miss it.