Billionaire investor Mark Cuban says he has sold most of his Bitcoin People are losing confidence in the role of cryptocurrencies as a hedge against the risks of weak fiat currencies and geopolitical instability.
Cuban, who has a net worth of approximately $10 billion, said Bitcoin’s price action during the recent conflict with Iran challenged his core reasons for owning the asset during an episode of the Front Office Sports podcast “Portfolio Players,” in which he discussed professional sports and his ownership of the Dallas Mavericks.
“When all this shit was in the spotlight because of the Iran war, Bitcoin was always the best alternative to fiat currencies that were losing value, and I always thought it was a better version of gold than gold. Well, gold just exploded… Bitcoin went down. Every time the dollar goes down, Bitcoin should go up… but it doesn’t,” Cuban said.
The comments mark a significant shift for Cuban, who for years has publicly defended Bitcoin as a superior version of gold because of its fixed supply and decentralized structure.
Cuban said in a 2021 interview with “The Delphi Podcast” that his cryptocurrency portfolio consists of roughly “60% Bitcoin, 30% Ethereum and 10% remaining assets.” At the time, he argued that Bitcoin’s scarcity made it a more powerful store of value than gold and said he had “never sold it.”
Cuban also compared blockchain technology and smart contracts to the early Internet era at the time, specifically praising Ethereum (ETH) for supporting decentralized financial applications and NFTs.
His latest comments suggest that enthusiasm has cooled, at least for Bitcoin.
“It’s not the hedge that I expected, and it’s really disappointing, so I would say I’m more disappointed in Bitcoin than I am in Ethereum and the rest of the crap,” Cuban said.
The criticism comes as investors continue to debate Bitcoin’s role in global markets. Proponents often describe the asset as “digital gold” that can protect wealth in the event of inflation, geopolitical instability or weakness in traditional currencies. However, Bitcoin often trades more like a high-risk technology asset, rising and falling in line with investors’ appetite for risk.
Gold prices have risen recently amid heightened geopolitical tensions and concerns over a conflict between the United States and Iran, while Bitcoin has struggled to maintain its upward momentum despite a weaker dollar.
Cuban’s comments also reflect broader divisions within the cryptocurrency market. While some investors still focus on Bitcoin as a macro hedge, others increasingly see the value in blockchain networks like Ethereum that enable transactions, payments and tokenized financial applications rather than primarily as a store of value.