Financial Middlemen Will Be Left Without Jobs Thanks To DeFi Says Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary

What Happened: Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary, or "Mr.Wonderful," appears convinced that the financial system as we know it is about to transform dramatically driven by the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies.

According to a report from Business Insider, O’Leary is particularly interested in the role decentralized finance, or ‘DeFi’, will play in shaping the future economy.

In his view, the need for financial middlemen, like foreign exchange brokers, for instance, will be completely redundant in a few years.

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"This whole move into stablecoins and cryptocurrencies is to get rid of those middlemen. And we're going to do it in the next three, four years," O'Leary said.

"They should find other jobs, maybe they should start shining shoes or something."

Why It Matters: Over the past two years, the DeFi sector has witnessed explosive growth. Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols now exceeds $143 billion and is up significantly from just $4.5 billion last year.

O’Leary himself wasn’t convinced by cryptocurrency as an asset class around the same time last year. In fact, in January of this year, he called Bitcoin BTC/USD a “giant-nothing burger,” before completely reversing his stance in March.

Now, the investor has taken on a deeper involvement with the crypto space after recently assuming the role of ambassador and spokesperson for crypto exchange FTX.

“To find crypto investment opportunities that met my own rigorous standards of compliance, I entered into this relationship with FTX,” he said at the time.

O’Leary has also taken an equity stake in FTX & West Realm Shires Services Inc.

Price Action: At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $44,801, slightly up in the past 24-hours.

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Photo: Kevin O'Leary Benzinga file photo