Kevin O'Leary, the star of Shark Tank, has revealed that he is still investing in cryptocurrency despite the upcoming collapse of FTX and the resulting crypto market turmoil. O'Leary has cited bitcoin as one of his top performing holdings this year, accompanied by other altcoins including Polygon's Matic. Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, has yielded impressive returns in 2021, up over 70% YTD. This surge in values has been a ray of light for some investors in the wake of the previous year's dismal 65% crash of BTC.

As it stands, the billionaire investor has invested in many other altcoins, such as the Matic token from the popular Ethereum layer-2 protocol. This particular altcoin has seen returns of over 40% since the beginning of the year, with its current trading value of $1.15.

The investor's enthusiasm for cryptocurrency has been made apparent through his promotion of the now defunct FTX exchange. O’Leary had previously disclosed that he was paid $15 million to promote the platform. After taking away taxes, agent fees, a $1 million equity investment, and using $10 million to buy crypto, Kevin could not salvage anything from the industry's newest failure. This has entailed investors to file a class action lawsuit against the former CEO and various celebrities that endorsed the platform, such as Kevin, Shaquille O'Neal, Udonis Haslem, David Ortiz and Naomi Osaka among others.

The affluent investor has now moved all his crypto assets to WonderFi, a fully regulated Canadian exchange. This decision to transfer funds to a safer platform irrefutably proves the value of regulation in the world of cryptocurrencies, as highlighted by the ongoing legal scrutiny of Coinbase and Binance.

The SEC has recently warned Coinbase of potential legal proceedings, while CFTC is now suing the renowned Binance exchange and Changpeng Zhao, their founder. O'Leary is fully in support of the increasing tight regulations; citing a conversation with US senators from last December revealing tremendous frustration over the recent disasters in the sector.

Although the recent regulatory adjustments have been a cause for concern for some in the crypto industry, for O'Leary these developments are a sign of the health of cryptocurrencies in the long-term, as detrimental unregulatable platforms will undoubtedly be eradicated, leaving only reputable firms providing dedicated services. He believes that legitimate crypto companies will come out of this ordeal more robust than ever.



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