Kevin O'Leary says tokenization needs regulatory clarity to advance

The buzz around Wall Street's tokenization boom is largely overstated and will not see significant progress until the U.S. Congress establishes a clear legislative framework, according to billionaire investor Kevin O'Leary. Speaking at Consensus 2026, he argued that Bitcoin remains a non-mainstream asset that institutions will not adopt without federal regulatory clarity, CoinDesk reported. While O'Leary acknowledged that tokenization is an innovative technology capable of shortening settlement times and reducing costs, he stressed that institutions require legal certainty before committing capital. He pointed to the dramatic increase in stablecoin adoption following the passage of the GENIUS stablecoin regulation act as a case in point. O'Leary added that institutional investors are primarily interested in Bitcoin and Ethereum, with little focus on other altcoins. He concluded that the key competitive factor for blockchain platforms going forward will be their ability to secure corporate adoption.