Famous Canadian businessman and television personality Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, argues that once a specific stablecoin bill is passed and “institutions smell policy, then you’ve got a real move up,” and that’s when Bitcoin (BTC) breaks out of the $19,000-$22,000 trading range.
The Shark Tank star appeared on the Crypto Banter YouTube channel, where he discussed the Stablecoin Transparency Act, which he says has a chance of getting passed by the US Congress “very quickly” after November 8, the date of the midterm elections.
As reported, the push for stablecoin regulation follows the massive collapse of Terra, which is a protocol that powered the algorithmic stablecoin UST.
While it doesn’t concern Bitcoin directly, O’Leary argued, the “tone of the regulation” is relevant, adding:
“This Act is very simple in nature, which is why it may pass. It’s being supported by both parties, and the reason that’s the case is that it makes, effectively, the US dollar the default payment system worldwide – which everybody could get behind.”
The USD-backed stablecoin issuers would be able to get a license in the US if they are willing to go through the accompanying “scrutiny.”
O’Leary argued that,
“Even though it has nothing to do with Bitcoin, that will be the first regulation passed by US regulators, and I would argue you want to be long Bitcoin going into that outcome.”
He said that there would be “a lot of interest in institutional capital coming into” stablecoins, such as USD coin (USDC). The coin’s issuer, Circle, O’Leary noted, has received millions in investment already. Back in April, it said that it entered into an agreement for a $400M funding round with investments from BlackRock, Inc., Fidelity Management and Research, Marshall Wace LLP, and Fin Capital. It also announced a $9bn valuation in February this year, up from the $4.5 billion seen in July 2021.
The Shark Tank star concluded that,
“So, end of the day, regulations come, Bitcoin goes up. […] “If institutions smell policy, then you’ve got a real move up, and that’s when you break out of this $19,000-$22,000 trading range against the US dollar. I think it goes right through that very quickly.”
When it comes to the upcoming elections, should there be gridlock between the House and the Senate, it would result in “nothing done in Washington” including “no more spending bills” – which is good for equity markets but “indifferent” for Bitcoin and crypto in general, O’Leary argued.
The reason is that the bills floating around that do concern crypto are all bipartisan, he said – both the Democrats and the Republicans support some form of crypto regulation. Hence, which party controls which chamber becomes less relevant, he suggested. The regulations are coming.
At 10 UTC on Monday morning, BTC was trading at USD 19,342, down 0.5% in a day and up 1.5% in a week. It was down 2% in a month and 68% in a year.