Kevin O'Leary has spent years investing in cryptocurrency, but the Shark Tank star now believes another corner of the market could deliver stronger returns: power.
Rather than trying to predict the next big winner in crypto or AI, O'Leary is investing in infrastructure both industries depend on, a strategy that could change how you think about opportunities when you start investing.
Editor's note: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.
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Kevin O'Leary says pure power could outperform
O'Leary's latest investment thesis is closely tied to the enormous amounts of electricity required by artificial intelligence, data centers, and cryptocurrency mining.
"I actually think the play that will outperform until we meet again will be just pure power. If you make power, if you invest in power infrastructure, that's turbine manufacturers, transmission manufacturers, companies that are aggregating power contracts from nuclear and hydro," O'Leary said on the Money Rehab podcast in July.
His bet extends well beyond a single utility or energy company. Instead, the multimillionaire is looking across the infrastructure needed to generate and deliver electricity as demand from data centers continues to grow.
AI is turning electricity into a bottleneck
Part of the appeal is that the strategy reduces the need to predict which AI or crypto platform ultimately wins. Electricity has become an increasingly important bottleneck as companies race to build AI data centers.
O'Leary, also known as "Mr. Wonderful," argued that access to power and suitable land could be more valuable than trying to pick individual winners in cryptocurrency or AI.
"I think in the next 36 months the pressure to maintain and grow energy is going to be the winning play in all things digital," O'Leary said, adding that whether electricity ultimately supports crypto is "irrelevant to that."
Bitzero combines power with AI and Bitcoin
Bitzero offers one example of how O'Leary is putting that strategy into practice. The company, which trades on Nasdaq under the ticker AIBZ, originally attracted the investor through Bitcoin mining, but he increasingly describes it as a power and infrastructure investment.
Its combination of power contracts, land, permits, and connectivity is central to that appeal. Those assets could potentially support Bitcoin mining, conventional data centers, or AI computing facilities depending on where demand is strongest.
More importantly for O'Leary's strategy, Bitzero gives him public-market exposure to the power theme rather than simply another cryptocurrency investment. However, his interest in power also appears to extend beyond Bitzero, suggesting this isn't simply a one-company bet.
"I'm not recommending the stock to anybody. I'm just saying that's what I did to get exposure to power," O'Leary said. "I want public markets because I want transparency in the quarterly reporting, but I'm looking for more Bitzeros," he added.
O'Leary dumped 24 smaller crypto holdings
At the same time, the move toward power has coincided with a dramatic simplification of his cryptocurrency portfolio after removing what he called the "poo-poo coins."
The Shark Tank investor previously held 27 cryptocurrencies but has now consolidated his crypto exposure into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC. Bitcoin and Ethereum account for about 90% of his remaining crypto portfolio.
Bitcoin and Ethereum captured 97% of the volatility
Analysis from an institutional analyst helped drive that decision and convinced O'Leary that maintaining dozens of smaller positions offered little additional exposure to the broader crypto market.
"If you do the analysis, and this is the part that nobody did, the whole crypto industry was saying, 'You got to own this, you got to own that, you need a little bit of this, you need a little bit of that,'" he said. The analyst's conclusion was much simpler: "You only need two. You get 97% of the volatility, the entire market with Bitcoin and Ethereum."
O'Leary compares the crypto hype to Labubu
His experience with those smaller holdings also appears to have changed how he views the broader crypto market. O'Leary has since compared the speculative boom to the Labubu collectible craze, suggesting that both enjoyed intense hype before enthusiasm faded.
"The Labubu was no longer with me. It died a tragic death," the multimillionaire said, drawing a similar comparison with his former crypto holdings. For Mr. Wonderful, much of the broader cryptocurrency market has experienced what he describes as an "NFT moment" that has largely run its course.
"Just look at the data. It's sobering," O'Leary said of cryptocurrencies. "Some people say I don't even need to own Ethereum. I just need Bitcoin if I want to be in crypto. That's it."
Bottom line
Kevin O'Leary hasn't abandoned crypto, but his portfolio shift shows he sees the infrastructure behind AI, data centers, and Bitcoin as a more attractive opportunity than picking individual winners.
Investors don't have to follow the Shark Tank star into individual power stocks to take something from his strategy. Looking beyond the biggest market trends and understanding the businesses that support them could help you avoid surprising financial mistakes when deciding where to put your money.
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