Kevin O’Leary Says Lack of Clear Rules Will Hinder Wall Street Tokenization

Asset tokenization maps rights to stocks, bonds, funds and other assets onto a blockchain, enabling longer trading hours and faster settlement. Although Wall Street continues to experiment with the technology, investor Kevin O’Leary said institutions would struggle to move beyond proofs of concept to actual allocations unless the U.S. Congress and Securities and Exchange Commission establish clear rules.

Speaking at the Consensus conference in Miami on May 6, 2026, O’Leary said institutions still viewed tokenization and Bitcoin as high-risk, and that this perception was unlikely to change until Congress formally passed legislation. He said Bitcoin and Ether together accounted for 97% of the crypto market’s total value, citing the rapid adoption of stablecoins after passage of the GENIUS Act as an example. He did not disclose a specific investment amount.