O'Leary says unclear US rules, not prices, are stalling crypto adoption

What happened

Kevin O'Leary, the investor known for his role on Shark Tank, says the sharp drop in crypto prices is only part of the story. In comments reported by U.Today and Coinpedia, he argued that the industry's deeper problem is the absence of clear US rules for using blockchain tools and stablecoins, which has slowed institutional adoption to a crawl.

O'Leary said his own holding companies already use Circle's USDC for treasury management and for settling cross-border payments. According to him, many other businesses would follow but will not commit capital until their compliance departments are confident about what regulators expect.

He described the legislative picture as half finished. The GENIUS Act has, in his account, given stablecoins a legal framework in the United States, but the CLARITY Act is still needed to cover blockchain infrastructure and the rest of the services used in treasury operations. U.Today quoted him saying the industry needs the CLARITY Act "for the rest," while Coinpedia reported his remark that the broader infrastructure work is not done until institutional compliance departments give approval.

Raoul Pal, founder of Real Vision, offered a separate explanation in the same reporting cycle. He pointed to US liquidity, saying it has remained largely flat since July 2026 as a stronger dollar, higher interest rates and a flatter yield curve slowed money creation through the banking system. Crypto, in his view, needs expanding liquidity to support prices, and current conditions are not providing enough of it.

Why it matters

The market has long waited for asset managers, payment firms and corporate treasury teams to move blockchain and stablecoins into routine operations. O'Leary's argument is that the obstacle is less about appetite than about internal sign-off: compliance staff need rules they can cite before approving new settlement tools. That makes the pace of legislation a direct constraint on adoption, not a distant policy question. Pal's liquidity view adds a macro dimension, suggesting that even willing institutions face a tighter funding backdrop.

What the data shows

The figures cited in the reports are limited. Pal said US liquidity, measured to include bank loans and leases, has not grown quickly since July 2026, and he described conditions as narrow. O'Leary's evidence is his own operation: USDC in treasury management and cross-border settlement, contrasted with companies that are still waiting on compliance approval.

Background

O'Leary has raised these themes before. U.Today noted that on Oct. 28 he identified regulatory uncertainty and the rising threat of quantum computing as the two main issues holding back greater institutional investment in Bitcoin. His latest comments extend that argument from Bitcoin to stablecoins and blockchain infrastructure more broadly. Pal, for his part, said he made two crypto purchases in 2026, including one during the February sell-off, and remains focused on long-term liquidity trends rather than an immediate rebound.

What is still unclear

Neither report names the companies O'Leary says are holding back, or identifies what specifically their compliance teams want clarified. There is also no detail on the CLARITY Act's timetable, its contents or how it would differ from existing rules. Pal's reference to quantum computing as a risk to Bitcoin adoption was not elaborated in the reports.

What to watch

Two threads are worth following. The first is movement on the CLARITY Act and whether it produces rules that corporate compliance departments can act on. The second is the liquidity picture Pal described, including bank lending and dollar strength, which he sees as central to whether crypto markets regain support.

Questions readers ask