Why Kevin O'Leary Is More Than Doubling His Crypto Exposure

Kevin O'Leary, chairman of O'Shares ETFs, is increasing his exposure to cryptocurrency, he said Wednesday on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"I'm moving up my allocation from 3% to 7%. That's a lot for me," O'Leary said. 

He noted that he has a Coinbase account, but he said "fees matter to me. I invest chunks of capital and I want to pay the lowest fee with the most liquidity and above all compliance compliance compliance."

O'Leary told CNBC that he thinks Coinbase Global Inc COIN has done a fantastic job of trying to be compliant.

Institutions are not worried about volatility or disclosure issues in the cryptocurrency markets; rather they are concerned with compliance, O'Leary said.

Institutional interest is massive, he said, adding that there's $1 trillion of interest in just Bitcoin BTC/USD if compliance issues can be solved. 

"What an opportunity I see ahead for crypto,"O'Leary emphasized. 

See Also: Kevin O'Leary Believes Ethereum Is Ultrasound Money

COIN Earnings: Coinbase reported quarterly revenue of $2.03 billion Wednesday, which beat the estimate of $1.77 billion. Monthly transacting users increased to 8.8 million in the second quarter, representing a 44% increase quarter over quarter.

Price Action: Bitcoin is up 59.81% year-to-date. 

At last check Wednesday, Coinbase was up 6.23% at $286.47.

Photo by Pete Linforth from Pixabay.