Billionaire Mark Cuban no longer enthused about crypto
In November 2021, the cryptocurrency space was in full swing. Call it cryptomania.
Retail investors, especially Millennials and Generation Z, were investing heavily in cryptocurrencies and other crypto projects driven by FOMO, Fear of Missing Out.
Institutional investors were investing in crypto projects like those related to decentralized finance, i.e. financial services without an intermediary.
Non-fungible tokens then emerged, becoming the year-end buzzword. NFTs, which are a means of asserting ownership of online content, such as a photo or a recording, were then considered the future of art.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has changed the name of his social media empire to Meta Platforms (META) – Get a free reportclaiming that the Metaverse, an immersive virtual world accelerated by the crypto industry, was the future of his company.
In fact, cryptocurrency prices were skyrocketing to the point where the market reached a valuation of $3 trillion in early November 2021. Bitcoin soared to $69,044.77 and ether, the second digital currency, climbed to $4,878.26.
This craze has created crypto millionaires and billionaires.
The Crypto Crisis: Cuba Weighs In
Less than a year later, the bubble burst. Crypto market crashed: Market is valued at $996 billion, data firm says CoinGecko. Bitcoin is down 73% from its all-time high, while Ether is down 68% from its all-time high.
The NFT market also collapsed. Trading volumes on OpenSea, the Amazon (AMZN) – Get a free report of NFTs, fell, according to DappRadar.
Coinbase (PIECE OF MONEY) – Get a free report, the most popular cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, saw its market value melt. Coinbase shares are down 75% since January. Robin Hood (HOOD) – Get a free reportGen Z brokerage, which has also benefited from cryptomania, is down 46% since January.
Overall, the current situation is pessimistic for the crypto industry, which is going through what insiders call the crypto winter, a period of falling prices.
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is one of the leaders in the best position to speak out on the subject. And as TheStreet has reported in other contexts, he does not mince his words. He thinks the crypto space seems to have lost its luster and the excitement it used to bring.
“Crypto has a place for sure,” the billionaire said at Vox Media’s annual Code 2022 conference on Sept. 6, according to excerpts from the interview conducted by journalist and host Kara Swisher. “[What’s] it lacks new applications.”
Cuban has invested in a variety of projects, ranging from web 3, the new iteration of the internet, to block chain businesses to NFTs to the ether cryptocurrency, of which it supports the ethereum platform. He has invested in Yuga Labs, which owns the famous NFTs Bored Ape Yacht Club collection.
“It is a bit boring”
Cuban is a noted ethereum maximalist, meaning he favors the platform over other blockchains. Ethereum has smart contracts, which are computer codes that determine the terms of a transaction (loans, trading, etc.) and do not depend on any third party.
“Just like in the early days of the internet, we browse with the internet. Everything is boring, right? Because we haven’t seen anything new. And it really took mobile to come along to really propel it to the front. And we don’t have that right now for crypto, so it’s kind of boring,” the “Shark Tank” star told Swisher.
He added: “And it’s just going to stay boring with [decentralized finance] and NFTs as collectibles and maybe other neat little things.”
Cuba will continue to invest in the crypto industry, however, he said. “I’m still very interested and still investing, but it’s just early days.”
This isn’t the first time the entrepreneur has criticized the fledgling crypto industry at a time when public interest in it is waning.
This slack in interest is understandable after a summer that saw a liquidity crisis as well as leading lenders like Voyager Digital, Celsius Network and hedge fund Three Arrows Capital will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy or go into liquidation.
“In stocks and crypto, you’ll see companies that were backed by cheap, easy money — but didn’t have good business prospects — going under,” the Cuban said. warned last June. “As [Warren] Buffett says, “When the tide goes out, you can see who’s swimming naked.”
The Billionaire was also prosecuted by individual investors who hold him responsible for the losses they say they suffered from the bankrupt lender Voyager Digital. In October 2021, Cuban NBA franchise Dallas Mavericks signed a five-year deal with Voyager to promote cryptocurrencies.
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