TLDR
- Kevin O’Leary controls 26,000 acres of land across multiple regions to develop sites for bitcoin mining and AI data centers, which he plans to lease once permits are secured.
- O’Leary has 19% of his portfolio in crypto-related assets and infrastructure, believing power contracts are more valuable than tokens.
- He predicts half of recently announced data centers will never be built due to lack of proper land and power infrastructure.
- O’Leary says institutions only care about bitcoin and Ethereum, calling other tokens “poopoo coins” that are down 60-90% and won’t recover.
- He argues meaningful institutional crypto adoption depends on U.S. regulation allowing yield on stablecoin accounts.
Kevin O’Leary is making a major bet on infrastructure instead of crypto tokens. The Shark Tank investor now controls 26,000 acres of land for bitcoin mining and data center development. He plans to lease these sites to companies once permits are complete.
The land includes 13,000 acres in Alberta, Canada. Another 13,000 acres are in undisclosed locations currently going through permitting. O’Leary told CoinDesk he is preparing “shovel-ready” sites with full utilities including power, water, fiber and air rights.
O’Leary has 19% of his portfolio in crypto-related investments. This includes digital assets, infrastructure and land. He already invested in bitcoin miner BitZero in Norway.
The investor compares his strategy to real estate development. Both mining and data centers need massive amounts of land and power. O’Leary doesn’t want to build the centers himself but instead acquire land and power to lease back.
Data Center Reality Check
O’Leary predicts many announced data centers won’t become reality. He claims about half of data centers announced in the last three years “will never get built.” He describes the rush as a “land grab without any understanding of what it takes.”
The sites O’Leary is developing target energy-intensive infrastructure. Bitcoin mining will use them in the short term. Hyperscalers and government data centers are the long-term goal.
O’Leary says power contracts at some locations are more valuable than bitcoin. He specifically mentioned contracts offering sub-six-cent per kilowatt hour pricing. This makes infrastructure more important than tokens according to his view.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Dominate
O’Leary’s infrastructure focus comes with skepticism about most cryptocurrencies. He believes institutional capital only cares about bitcoin and ether. Recently launched exchange-traded funds brought in retail capital but mean little to institutions according to him.
O’Leary said investors “only need to own two positions to capture 97.2% of the entire volatility of the entire crypto market since inception.” Those positions are bitcoin and ethereum.
He called other cryptocurrencies “poopoo coins” that are “stuck down anywhere from 60 to 90%.” He added they’re “never coming back.”
A Charles Schwab report supports his view. Nearly 80% of crypto’s $3.2 trillion market value is in foundational blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. This shows how concentrated industry value remains despite thousands of newer projects.
Regulation Holds the Key
O’Leary says regulation will determine institutional adoption beyond bitcoin and ether. He is watching the crypto market structure bill currently in the U.S. Senate. One clause in the current draft bans yield on stablecoin accounts.
O’Leary criticized this restriction. He said it unfairly advantages traditional banks. Crypto exchange Coinbase pulled support for the bill earlier this month over this issue.
Stablecoin issuers and exchanges want to offer rewards on these products. Coinbase reported earning $355 million in revenue from stablecoin yield offerings in the third quarter of 2025. Other crypto companies have concerns about decentralized finance regulations and securities rules in the bill.
O’Leary remains optimistic the bill will be fixed. When it does, he believes it will open the way for massive institutional allocation into bitcoin.
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