Billionaire Mark Cuban believes: Cryptocurrency is not even as good as bananas.

The owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, has always maintained a neutral stance towards cryptocurrencies. In a recent interview, he elaborated on a series of thoughts regarding Bitcoin and blockchain technology.

In August of this year, the Dallas Mavericks officially became the second NBA team to accept Bitcoin payments, following the Sacramento Kings who opened this option back in 2014. However, despite this move, Mark Cuban does not hold an optimistic view on cryptocurrencies.

According to a report, while fans can now purchase tickets with Bitcoin, Cuban does not see any real-world use cases for cryptocurrencies and points out that Bitcoin enthusiasts are no different from comic book, baseball card, or art collectors. He stated:

That’s what a crypto is, especially Bitcoin. Bitcoin is worth what somebody will pay for it. Have you ever seen someone who collected baseball cards and they were really, really, really proud of their baseball cards because they kept saying they were going to go up in price?

Cuban believes that this is similar to collecting comic books or art, with no real intrinsic value. He continued to say:

You can’t eat a baseball card. Your artwork might look good on the wall but that doesn’t have any intrinsic value. At least I can look at my baseball card. I can look at my piece of art and say, ‘Wow.’

In response, cryptocurrency supporters highlighted various benefits of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, such as the ability to make cross-border payments in seconds or minutes without expensive fees to third-party intermediaries.

Furthermore, they emphasized the practical applications of Bitcoin in countries like Venezuela, where people facing severe hyperinflation have turned to Bitcoin to hedge against the long-term devaluation of their national currency.

However, Cuban believes that cryptocurrencies are too complex for the general public and underscores the risks associated with storing digital assets. He stated:

For the 99% of the population, it’s a very difficult thing. You have to put it on a device, you have to print it out, how do you keep from being hacked, how do you keep from being lost, how do you keep from being copied, what happens if you forget your password, it’s just so difficult that its only value is what the next person will pay for it.

Furthermore, Cuban sees investing in cryptocurrencies as similar to investing in gold, with both attracting the same type of individuals but with different "religions." He explained:

It’s like gold. Gold is a religion. Now, those who are really into gold will say if the world falls apart, if everything falls apart, if you own gold then you’ll be okay.

Despite Cuban's skepticism regarding the intrinsic value of cryptocurrencies, he remains a supporter of blockchain technology, stating:

I’d rather have bananas than Bitcoin. I can come up with a good argument for blockchain, there are a lot of applications that are going to be distributed, and they’re going to be the future. But that’s not what is needed for Bitcoin. We can create blockchain without using any cryptocurrencies.

As the interview with Cuban concluded, he emphasized that it's not that he is against cryptocurrencies, but rather that caution is needed. At best, they are just a store of value tool.

Related Reading

• Former Fed Official: Cryptocurrency Replacing the Dollar Is Nonsense
• Aeternity's Blockchain to Be Used for Tracking Uruguay's Marijuana

Join now to get the most complete financial technology information, blockchain news, and industry examples!