Kevin O'Leary to Lease 26,000 Acres for AI Data Centres and Bitcoin Mining; Discloses Stake in Digital Assets

Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary has revealed in a recent interview that he is making significant investments in the infrastructure needed for bitcoin mining and AI data centres. The entrepreneur controls 26,000 acres of land across various regions, which he intends to convert into low-cost, utility-ready sites for infrastructure development. O'Leary plans to begin leasing the land once he has secured the necessary permits.

The land holdings include 13,000 acres in Alberta, Canada, as well as a further 13,000 acres in undisclosed locations currently undergoing permitting processes. O'Leary has already invested in Norway's BitZero, a bitcoin mining company, and has drawn parallels between bitcoin mining and real estate investment. He believes that digital asset mining and data centre operations require substantial land and power supplies, much like real estate developers seek prime locations for skyscrapers.

It is important to note that O'Leary does not intend to build the data centres himself. 'My job is not necessarily to build a data centre. It's to prepare shovel-ready permits for all of the above-mentioned,' he said. He added that around 50% of the data centres announced over the past three years 'will never get built,' describing the current rush as a 'land grab without any understanding of what it takes.'

The lands he has acquired are being prepared with full utilities, making them suitable for bitcoin mining in the short term, and potentially for government data centres in the longer term. O'Leary emphasised that the power agreements in some locations are more valuable than bitcoin itself — particularly those offering electricity prices below six cents per kilowatt-hour, which makes infrastructure more critical than the crypto tokens themselves in the long run.

How Much O'Leary's Portfolio is Allocated to Crypto?

During the interview, O'Leary disclosed that he has over 19% of his entire portfolio invested in crypto-linked assets. While he has long been a supporter of digital assets, he admits to growing more cautious amid the market's wild price swings.

He believes that institutional investors mainly focus on bitcoin and ether, while crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hold little appeal for them. 'In the context of the financial services market and asset allocation, [crypto ETFs] aren't even a teenage pimple... they're just nothing,' he stated.

'O'Leary explained further: 'The numbers tell you, you only need to own two positions to capture 97.2% of the entire volatility [of] the entire crypto market since inception, and it's just bitcoin and ethereum. All the poopoo coins are still stuck down anywhere from 60% to 90%, and they're never coming back.'

A recent report from Charles Schwab indicated that approximately 80% of the estimated $3.2 trillion (£2.3 trillion) market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies is concentrated in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Despite the proliferation of new projects vying for attention, most of the sector's value remains tied to these two dominant networks.

Finally, O'Leary highlighted that regulation will be a pivotal point for the industry's future. One key piece of legislation under review in the US Senate is the cryptocurrency structure bill. While he criticised a clause in the draft bill that bans yield on stablecoin accounts — which he argues could unfairly advantage traditional banks — he remains optimistic that this issue will be addressed. He believes such regulatory adjustments will pave the way for greater institutional involvement in bitcoin.

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