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."

Read more: Long in China’s Shadow, the US Is Becoming a Bitcoin Mining Power Again