Kevin O’Leary, one of the investors in FTX, a now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, claimed that Taylor Swift missed out on a $100 million promotional deal with the company. O’Leary’s statement was made in light of a class-action lawsuit filed by investors against FTX and its celebrity promoters.
Uncertainty Surrounding FTX’s Security Status
According to attorney Adam Moskowitz, who represents the investors, Swift declined the offer due to uncertainty surrounding FTX’s security status. Moskowitz claimed that none of the celebrity promoters, including O’Leary, performed due diligence before promoting FTX products to the public.
In response to Moskowitz’s claim, O’Leary took a swipe at Swift, saying that she only declined the deal because FTX collapsed before she could sign it. He also mentioned that he had invested in WonderFi, a Canadian cryptocurrency firm.
O’Leary claimed that crypto is “dead” to institutional investors without regulatory clarity in a separate statement. He argued that sovereign wealth and pension funds would not invest in crypto without regulations. O’Leary also stated that Coinbase‘s recent lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would do nothing to spur regulation.
Bipartisan Stablecoin Bill
Despite his skepticism about the future of crypto, O’Leary expressed optimism about the new bipartisan stablecoin bill. He said that the bill, which aims to get stablecoins to do transactions to replace the SWIFT system and the ACH system, is the only narrative he supports on Capitol Hill.
Regarding Bitcoin’s future, O’Leary predicted that it would trade between $17,000 and $35,000 for a long time. He said that the same traders would trade back and forth, and no new money would come into it.
