Shark Tank's O'Leary Says a 'Made in China' Label on Bitcoin Keeps Some Funds Away

The reluctance of many institutions to have exposure to China is going to a problem for mass investment in bitcoin as most of the cryptocurrency is mined there, said Kevin O'Leary, co-host of the TV show "Shark Tank."

Speaking at the Cboe Global Markets webinar, O'Leary said that for bitcoin to really take off with institutions, it needs to be acceptable to ethics and sustainability committees.
"It needs to be compliant," said O'Leary, who is also chairman of O'Leary Fund Management. "That's going to be a problem going forward."
O'Leary said institutions are going to be asking themselves: "Is this coin manufactured in countries that are abusing human rights or have sanctions against them? I'm really speaking now of China. I have had many institutions tell me they do not want to own 'China coin,'" he said.
O'Leary said he spends "a fair amount" of his time trying to deal with miners that are willing to mine compliantly, both on his own behalf and for institutions.
The firms are "really interested in owning a coin that have some kind of provenance to them."

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