Mark Cuban says he sold most of his Bitcoin after failed hedge narrative 'disappointed' the billionaire
Key takeaways
- “When all this shit hit the fan with the Iran war, bitcoin was always the best alternative to fiat currency losing its value and I always thought it was a better version of gold than gold.
- Cuban also compared blockchain technology and smart contracts to the early internet era, at the time, particularly praising Ethereum (ETH) for enabling decentralized finance applications and NFTs.
- His latest remarks suggest that enthusiasm has cooled, at least towards bitcoin.
The billionaire investor said he sold most of his bitcoin after concluding the cryptocurrency failed to act as a hedge during recent geopolitical turmoil and dollar weakness.By Helene Braun|Edited by Aoyon Ashraf May 21, 2026, 5:30 p.m. 2 min read Make preferred on (Anna Webber/Getty Images for Inc. at Inc. Founders House at SXSW)What to know: Mark Cuban said he has sold most of his bitcoin holdings after concluding it failed to act as a hedge against a weakening dollar and geopolitical turmoil, particularly during the recent Iran conflict.The billionaire investor, who once described bitcoin as a superior version of gold and held a crypto portfolio heavily weighted toward it, said gold has recently surged while bitcoin fell, undermining his thesis.Cuban now describes bitcoin as a disappointment compared with Ethereum, which he still views more favorably, and he dismissed most other cryptocurrencies as “garbage,” underscoring a broader debate over bitcoin’s role as “digital gold.”Billionaire investor Mark Cuban said he has sold most of his bitcoin BTC$77,640.65 holdings after losing confidence in the cryptocurrency’s role as a hedge against weakening fiat currencies and geopolitical instability.
Cuban, who's net worth is about $10 billion, said bitcoin’s price behavior during the recent Iran conflict challenged one of the core reasons he owned the asset during an episode of sports podcast "Portfolio Players," where he mainly discussed professional sports and his ownership of the Dallas Mavericks.
“When all this shit hit the fan with the Iran war, bitcoin was always the best alternative to fiat currency losing its value and I always thought it was a better version of gold than gold. Well, gold just blew up... bitcoin dropped. And every time the dollar dropped, bitcoin should've gone up ... and it just didn't do that,” Cuban said.