Kevin O’Leary, a venture capitalist, is addressing concerns that another currency would rise and dethrone the US dollar as the unchallenged ruler of international trade and finance.
In a new interview with Stansberry Research, the Shark Tank star claims that he has spent his whole life hearing demands for the collapse of the US currency.
According to the venture capitalist, the dollar will likely continue to be the world’s reserve currency as long as wealthy nations and individuals continue to invest in the US stock market. “I’ve been hearing about the demise of the US dollar since 1966.” Every two years, someone declares, ‘This is the end of the US dollar.’ You only need to ask yourself one question: if you’re a sovereign wealth fund based in any country – Middle East, Eastern, or Western Europe – where is the majority of your wealth located right now? It is part of the S&P 500, which is denominated in US dollars.
There is no likelihood of another currency being the world’s default currency unless that changes. People wanted it to be Bitcoin. That’s intriguing, but it’s just a guess. That is not a form of currency. So perhaps a computerized version of the dollar, though I believe that will be stymied by privacy issues. Perhaps a private version, similar to USDC (USD Coin). However, the US dollar remains the core unit of wealth and asset storage.
Ask any high-net-worth individual anywhere in the planet where they want to invest their whole fortune. Nobody teaches you about the yuan, the euro, or the British pound. Nobody mentions Brazilian or Venezuelan currencies. Everything is in US dollars. “I tell everyone who is concerned about this, ‘Get over it.'”
O’Leary believes that countries such as China and Russia brokering deals to settle transactions in their native fiat currencies is immaterial because major economies continue to rely on the dollar to trade goods and services.
“No one is abandoning their US dollar, which is a major trading platform, and everyone wants to trade commodities, goods, and services in US dollars.” This is something I always point out. Who is saying it? Please locate a sovereign wealth fund… Russia? Allow me to invest there. What a brilliant idea. That is the entire point. That region is rapidly becoming an economic wasteland. What else is there to say? They won’t give them any US funds until [Russia] cleans up its act.”
