Shark Tank star and veteran investor Kevin O'Leary has publicly backed Avalanche, telling attendees at the 2026 Avalanche Summit in New York that he understands the merits of $AVAX and that major US companies are waking up to the advantages the network offers.
The official @Avax account shared a quote from @kevinolearytv following his appearance at the event, which took place September 16 and 17 at Chelsea Industrial in Manhattan. The endorsement arrived at a moment of notable momentum for the Avalanche ecosystem, with the summit drawing a heavyweight institutional crowd.
A Watershed Moment for Blockchain
O'Leary's comments at the summit went beyond a simple vote of confidence in $AVAX. Speaking at the Avalanche Summit in New York, O'Leary said he is acquiring new cryptocurrency positions in anticipation of the next market cycle and is closely watching the adoption of blockchain technology by mainstream securities exchanges, calling that shift a significant "watershed moment" for the industry.
He highlighted that the key "watershed moment" for crypto will be when a major stock exchange formally adopts a blockchain, explicitly connecting this thesis to the Avalanche Summit. For O'Leary, Avalanche is already well placed to be that chain. He said the next phase of crypto investing lies in identifying which blockchains will achieve widespread adoption in specific sectors.
Institutional Weight Behind the Summit
Avalanche Summit V returned September 16 to 17, 2026, to Chelsea Industrial in Manhattan, marking Avalanche's flagship annual gathering, organised by Ava Labs to bring together business and technology leaders driving the future of digital assets.
Confirmed speakers included Ava Labs CEO Emin Gun Sirer, alongside executives from major institutional names including BlackRock, Apollo, Franklin Templeton, and the NYSE, reflecting the event's push toward institutional blockchain adoption.
At Avalanche Summit New York, Ava Labs president Charley Cooper revealed that the New York Stock Exchange has spent roughly a year testing Avalanche's technology and working with Ava Labs on tokenization infrastructure. That disclosure added concrete weight to O'Leary's broader argument about institutional adoption accelerating.
Over two days in New York, Avalanche turned the stage into a live feed of institutional breaking news, covering topics from Ethena's Avalanche-exclusive neobank to South Korea committing its capital markets onchain, with asset managers from Janus Henderson to Goldman Sachs showing up with real allocations.
O'Leary's presence at the event, and the strength of his remarks, adds a prominent mainstream voice to a network that is increasingly positioning itself at the centre of the tokenized-assets conversation.
Sources:
KuCoin News: Kevin O'Leary Buys Crypto, Calls Blockchain Adoption a Watershed Moment
CoinMarketCap: Avalanche (AVAX) Surges 11% on Tokenization Momentum
Avalanche Summit New York: Official Event Page
