Mark Cuban's Bitcoin Bet Fails: Sold Most Holdings After Realization
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban and comedian Bill Maher had a heated discussion about the merits of Bitcoin (BTC) versus gold as a hedge against market downturns. In December 2022, on the Club Randon Podcast, Maher expressed his preference for holding gold over Bitcoin, which he considered 'a hedge against everything else.'
Cuban disagreed with Maher's stance, calling him 'dumb' for choosing gold and arguing that both gold and Bitcoin derive their value from market perception rather than any intrinsic backing. At the time, Cuban was optimistic about Bitcoin's potential and waited for a dip in price to accumulate more.
Fast forward to 2026, Cuban has changed his tune. In May of this year, he revealed that he had sold most of his Bitcoin because it didn't behave as he expected, rather than being a safe haven, it acted like a high-beta tech stock. Cuban explained that he builds his investments around a thesis and exits when the thesis is proven wrong.
Cuban's shift in opinion is notable, especially given his previous bullish stance on Bitcoin. However, he also expressed dissatisfaction with cryptocurrency as an asset class, stating that it has yet to develop an application that appeals to 'grandma' and criticizing memecoins as 'garbage.'