Kevin O’Leary Says ‘No Choice with Crypto’ After as US Inflation Burns Hot

After a release of key U.S. inflation data published on Thursday, the market saw Bitcoin dropping its price below $19,000 per coin. However, that did not move well-known investor and "Shark Tank" star Kevin O’Leary as he appeared shrugging it off and focusing on the long game.

In his LinkedIn post on Thursday, O’Leary said the crypto opportunity is more like a take-it-or-leave-it offer. “You can’t stop it, you either join the wave or get lost!” he stated on popular social media. He said people have no choice but to get along with cryptocurrency irrespective of the criticism.

“There are people that criticize me on this, but this is one of the reasons I feel so strongly about the future of crypto and NFTs. When you have new technology emerging that can drastically boost our level of productivity and improve how we process transactions globally, you have no choice but to get with it,” O’Leary further elaborated on his conviction about the new asset class.

His comments came after crypto prices plunged to new October lows on Thursday after fresh US data showing global inflation climbed higher – a macro event that further eroded slowing demand for risky assets. Bitcoin dropped as much as 5.1% on Thursday to $18,201, its lowest in about three weeks, while Ether declined as much as 8.2%.

Bitcoin dropped below $19,000 on Thursday as traders anxiously awaited the latest figures of the consumer price index (CPI). The cryptocurrency dropped more sharply after the report came in, indicating a slightly larger-than-expected rise in inflation, despite the aggressive rate hikes the Federal Reserve has introduced to fight rising prices.

In recent years, O’Leary has become a big crypto advocate after buying his first Bitcoin in 2017 – since then, he's fully embraced the world of blockchain. Despite the ongoing market downturn, the "Shark Tank" star is not ready to call a bottom in the digital asset industry a kind of a major negative occurrence.

In June, O’Leary shared his market outlook and investment strategy during this bear market. He was not sweating the bear market as he believed the winter will end up lifting up the entire sector in the long run.

O'Leary who is a strategic investor at crypto-trading platform WonderFi Technologies Inc., explained that he has been doubling down on digital assets, including Bitcoin and ether, as well as various Web3 projects even though he knows that not every investment will be a winning bet.

O'Leary approaches cryptocurrency like he would any other investment. This means crypto is part of a balanced portfolio with a mix of sectors and specific assets. His portfolio reflects his bullishness for blockchain technologies. He currently holds 32 positions in the crypto space, including Solana and blockchain firm Polygon.

The crypto bear market has slammed valuations of his digital assets, currently, the new asset class makes up 16% of his holdings, down from 20% in March.