"M2 exchange on Abu Dhabi" - Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary comments on the future of Crypto

Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary believes that Abu Dhabi's M2 exchange will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of cryptocurrency. In a January 25 Instagram post, Kevin shared his thoughts on the future of cryptocurrency under the Trump administration.

He noted that most of the Crypto holdings were concentrated outside the US and if any regulations were set in place then most of the Asian and Middle Eastern countries and their exchanges would attract focus.

He specifically emphasized the significance of Abu Dhabi's M2 Exchange, highlighting its potential to attract global attention and play a crucial role in the evolving crypto.

"So where is that gonna go? The M2 exchange on Abu Dhabi. Probably one of the fastest growing exchanges in the world," he said.

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Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary comments on Bitcoin regulations under the Trump administration

In the January 25 Instagram post, the Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary shared his thoughts on the current status of cryptocurrency under the Donald Trump administration. He stated that with Trump in office, crypto was expected to face increased regulation, aligning with both public sentiment and his own beliefs.

Kevin also highlighted that this regulation could attract significant institutional investment, particularly in Bitcoin.

"Now that Trump is coming into administration, love him or hate him, people think that crypto is going to be regulated and that's gonna get a lot of institutional money interested, particularly in Bitcoin, the granddaddy of crypto," he said.

However, he expressed concern that the majority of Bitcoin holdings were outside the United States, suggesting that Asian and Middle Eastern countries would likely benefit more from the new regulations.

The Shark Tank star noted that these countries and their exchanges will attract more focus and would see significant growth.

"Now who's gonna benefit from that? Well, I think there'll be a lot of places around the world because so much of Bitcoin specifically is not in the US, it's in Asia, the Middle East," he said.

He mentioned Abu Dhabi's M2 exchange as an example and pointed out that it might attract more trading activity, investments, and institutional interest as a result of the changing landscape of crypto.

Kevin explained that Abu Dhabi's M2 exchange was "regulated" and didn't have any history, emphasizing that having a clean history was important.

He noted that the people who founded the first exchanges were now in prison and since institutions don't want to be associated with felons they would need a regulator and an exchange that was "completely clean."

"[Abu Dhabi's M2 exchange is] regulated. It doesn't have any history. You know, the people that founded the first exchanges, they're all in prison. Well, institutions don't like felons, so they want to work with regulator and an exchange that's completely clean," he concluded.

Kevin had his eyes set on Abu Dhabi’s M2 exchange even before it was officially launched in November 2023.

In a September 29, 2023 interview with Fox Business, the Shark Tank star had predicted that the M2 exchange had the potential to become the leader in crypto exchanges, even surpassing the world’s largest exchange, Binance.

“There’s a trillion dollars in institutional capital sitting on the sidelines, waiting for an exchange that is regulated, compliant and ready for institutional capital. Abu Dhabi’s M2 exchange seems very promising. It’s a shame we didn’t get there first,” he said.

He claimed that the upcoming virtual asset platform was “backed by billions of dollars” and was poised to “set the benchmark for exchanges” owing to its liquidity.

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes air every Friday on ABC.