Billionaire Cuban Predicts 'New Crypto'

Mark Cuban is convinced that the next major investment craze may have little to do with Bitcoin or blockchain.

The billionaire entrepreneur took to X to predict that chips as an asset class will be the new crypto.

Cuban refers to the high-end GPUs used to power artificial intelligence.

According to the highly influential billionaire, who rose to prominence at the peak of the dot-com bubble, computing hardware could become an investable asset class in its own right.

Computer chips are typically viewed as depreciating equipment, but the rapid growth of AI has begun to challenge that assumption.

That said, there has been a swift pushback from the cryptocurrency community. Bitcoin advocate Pierre Rochard responded that chip manufacturing has neither Bitcoin's difficulty adjustment nor its halving mechanism. Others have joked that Cuban's statement was a sign of a late bear market bottom.

Cuban's changing views on Bitcoin

The billionaire was once one of Bitcoin's more prominent American skeptics.

In 2019, he compared Bitcoin with collectibles and famously said he would rather own bananas because they had practical utility. He did, however, acknowledge that Bitcoin could potentially function as a store of value.

Later, he warmed up to crypto. Cuban became particularly enthusiastic about Ethereum because of smart contracts and their ability to support decentralized applications. He argued that Ethereum's utility gave it an advantage over Bitcoin.

Cuban repeatedly opined that he viewed Bitcoin similarly to gold (as a safe haven asset).

In May, however, Cuban revealed that he had sold most of his $BTC holdings to the chagrin of the cryptocurrency community. His main complaint was that the flagship cryptocurrency, which he originally harshly criticised, had failed to behave as a viable macro hedge.

"I think Bitcoin has lost the plot," Cuban said during a recent interview.

During the aforementioned interview, Cuban claimed that he viewed $BTC as a superior version of gold. However, he quickly became disappointed after the cryptocurrency severely underperformed.