Kevin O'Leary "Bitcoin is a third-rate asset until the bill passes"

▲ Bitcoin(BTC)

It has been argued that the passage of the U.S. cryptocurrency market structure bill is necessary for Bitcoin (BTC) and tokenization to be truly embraced by institutional funds. Investor and broadcaster Kevin O’Leary believes that until the bill passes, Bitcoin and tokenization will remain peripheral assets for large institutional investors.

Benzinga reported on May 21 (local time) that O'Leary emphasized the importance of the U.S. cryptocurrency market structure bill by posting a video of his discussion at the Coindesk Consensus event earlier this month on X (formerly Twitter). O'Leary said, “We need to establish a global compliance framework through the actual passage of legislation within the Securities and Exchange Commission. When that happens, everything will change.”

O'Leary argued that with the November midterm elections approaching, now is the opportunity for the bill to pass. However, he pointed out that the issue of stablecoin compensation remains a subject of debate. He had previously expressed hope in January that the bill could pass by mid-May.

These remarks came after the U.S. cryptocurrency market structure bill passed a vote in the Senate Banking Committee. Benzinga reported that the bill received bipartisan support, with some Democratic senators casting affirmative votes. Unlike when discussions on the bill fell through in January, many major cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase, are now broadly supporting the bill after a compromise on stablecoin yields.

The sticking point is the backlash from the banking sector. The compromise includes language prohibiting crypto companies from offering rewards that are economically or functionally equivalent to deposit interest. However, banking industry groups are reportedly still not satisfied.

The bill now heads to the full Senate. Negotiators are expected to work on merging the bill with the version from the Senate Agriculture Committee. Benzinga reported that at the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $77,684.27, up 0.51% over 24 hours according to Benzinga Pro data.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*