Cuban has offloaded the bulk of his position, making the case that the token let him down as a hedge when global headwinds came in. For one of the industry’s most vocal supporters to walk away like this, it opens up some questions about the credibility of the digital gold angle and where the big money will be when the going gets rough.
A high-profile reversal with market consequences
The asset didn’t hold up when it was called on, says the long-time advocate. He was once of the mind that you could have a ‘better version of gold than gold’ in Bitcoin, but his confidence wavered as geopolitical risk went up and the price didn’t put up a fight.
‘When all the shit hit the fan with the Iran war, I always thought Bitcoin was the best alternative to a fiat currency that was losing its value,’ he put it in an interview. ‘Gold just blew up to $5,000. Bitcoin dropped … It is not the hedge that I expected it to be.’
It’s a starker change of tune given how deep he was in. Back in 2021, Cuban would tell you he was on crypto for hours a day, had put blockchain into the Dallas Mavericks’ business, and was sitting on a portfolio that was roughly 60% Bitcoin, 30% Ethereum and 10% in other tokens.
Now he’ll have it that crypto has ‘lost the plot’, and he doesn’t mince words when it comes to the memecoins and small-caps he considers ‘garbage’.
Market signals turn cautious
Bitcoin has been under pressure, hitting a five-week low. With some unease over the economy and U.S. ETFs seeing outflows, the mood has been sour. In Singapore on Thursday, the token was down 1.5% to $74,017.
CoinDCX Research is calling it a sizeable sell-off as we see Bitcoin go under $76,000 and take the altcoins with it. They have Ethereum still in the $2,000s, BNB at $655, Tron at $0.37, Doge at $0.1 and Hyperliquid at $60.
And it’s not just the numbers on the board; there’s less of it being moved around. The spot volume for the top 10 has come in at $80B a week in 2026, compared to a $178B average in 2025 – more than half gone.
To put a fine point on it, here are the figures that matter:
– Bitcoin to $74,017 at the session low
– BTC below $76,000 in the sell-off
– Top 10 spot volume at $80B per week in 2026
– Was a $178B weekly average in 2025
– A 50% plus drop in the volumes
There are some flow changes too: Hyperliquid has overtaken Ethereum in 24-hour inflows. And on another front, MasterCard and Chainlink are in a position to let 3.5 billion cardholders buy crypto onchain.
Gold, Ethereum and the hedge debate
For Cuban, the test was straightforward. You had inflation and risk, and while gold made a run for it, Bitcoin tripped. When gold is ‘at $5,000’ and Bitcoin is in the tank, the hedge argument loses some of its luster with those who want some ballast in a risk-off environment.
He is ‘not as disappointed in Ethereum’ for what it does in hosting financial apps. That said, if you look at the last five years, Bitcoin has put up much better numbers than Ethereum, which is a reminder of how hard it is to put a value on these things past the hype.
Cuban’s wider tech take: AI as a tool, not a crutch
He has some advice for students on how to make it: let AI be a way to think, not a way to not think. ‘They use strong inputs and apply critical thinking to evaluate results,’ he says. ‘AI helps you think bigger, but it does not make decisions’.
He made the point in an interview a year or so back that the ones using AI will be the ones with the better, more original work and the ones in a position to lead. But he sees access as the main hurdle to teaching it right in schools.
What comes next
With a macro climate that’s anything but certain, Cuban’s exit is a blow to the idea of Bitcoin as a safe haven. The weak prices, the ETF outflows and the thinning volumes all add to it. Now that one of the most visible names in the room has pulled back, we’ll be watching to see how the coin stands up to scrutiny the next time the market is put to the test.
