‘Shark Tank’ Star Kevin O’Leary To Be Paid In Crypto For His New Role As Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Spokesperson | Currency News | Financial and business news

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“Shark tank” / ABC

Renowned investor Kevin O’Leary has signed on as the official spokesperson for the Sam Bankman-Fried FTX crypto exchange. The “Shark Tank” co-host has requested to be paid in cryptocurrency, which will be managed on FTX. O’Leary once called bitcoin a “rogue” but turned around and now believes it will beat the S&P 500. Sign up for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before The Opening Bell here.

Famous investor Kevin O’Leary has asked to be paid in cryptocurrency for taking on the role of official ambassador and spokesperson for Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX, the crypto exchange said when announcing the hiring.

The “Shark Tank” co-host has also requested that the crypto be managed on the FTX platform, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

O’Leary, known as “Mr. Wonderful,” said many institutional investors are struggling to make decisions about investing in crypto assets, given current regulatory and compliance hurdles.

“I am no different. I want to increase my exposure to crypto but also serve my compliance mandates,” he said, quoted in the statement.

He entered into the partnership with FTX because the exchange met its “own high standards for compliance,” he said.

O’Leary will acquire a stake in the owners and operators of FTX.com, FTX Trading and West Realm Shires, under a multi-year agreement. As an ambassador, O’Leary is expected to promote the crypto exchange and its related brands through a number of initiatives.

The investor was once not a fan of cryptocurrencies, having told CNBC in 2019 that bitcoin is a “rogue” currency. “I have no interest in doing this crypto bullshit because it’s not compliant,” he said in an interview at the time.

But he has since turned around. In June, he said he would never sell bitcoin and that digital assets make up 3% of his wallet.

“I’m not going to trade it,” he said in a “Bitcoin Magazine” podcast. “I’m going to own it, and I expect it to appreciate over time and likely beat the S&P 500 Index.”

Bitcoin was last trading around $ 46,383 per coin at 4:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, and is up 60% so far this year.

He also recently praised the ether for being a deflationary asset, calling it “ultrasonic money”.

Read more: 20-year-old crypto market maker who skipped college breaks down his Reddit-inspired approach to trading – and explains why he sees ether replacing bitcoin as the ‘royal cryptocurrency’

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