Mark Cuban Owns Bitcoin But Prefers Bananas

In a recent appearance on Anthony Pompliano’s The Pomp Podcast, billionaire investor and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, discussed his qualms with Bitcoin (BTC).

Despite arguing that Bitcoin is hampered by a lack of understanding among the general public and poor fungibility for goods without fiat conversion, Cuban offers that Bitcoin may find success if economic crises accelerate and “everything goes into the shitter.”

Mark Cuban is bearish on BTC until your grandma can use it

When asked what it would take to change his position of skepticism regarding Bitcoin, Cuban stated: “It would have to be so easy to use it’s a no brainer.”

“It’d have to be completely friction-free and understandable by everybody first, and then you can say it’s an alternative to gold as a store of value,” he added.

“You’re going to have to make it friction-free so grandma can do it, adding “the fact that we are arguing so much about it, and you have so many stands about Bitcoin — that just proves the point, that it’s difficult.”

Bananas comprise easier means of payment than Bitcoin

Cuban argued that Bitcoin comprises a cumbersome means of exchange through lacking fungibility for goods and services without converting into fiat currencies.

“Right now, you still have to convert it for anything that you want,” he stated, adding: “[A]s long as you have to convert it, you are still dependent on fiat, no matter what you say.”

“I can trade bananas easier as a commodity than I can trade Bitcoin, and I can still eat that banana before it goes bad, and get all my potassium for my workout.”

Cuban recounts briefly supporting payments in Bitcoin on the Mavericks’ online store four years ago, stating “no one bought anything.”

After reintroducing support for merch and ticket purchases in BTC in August 2019, Cuban estimates that the payment method has brought in $130 dollars, adding: “that’s all of the Bitcoin that I own right now.”

Mark Cuban: Bitcoin may benefit if ‘everything goes into the shitter’

While Cuban acknowledges blockchain can offer great opportunities, he asserts that “we haven’t really seen blockchain applications really take off. I get all of the arguments, I’ve seen all of the charts, I understand all of the potential problems with fiat,” he states, adding:

“It’s to Bitcoin’s potential benefit if everything goes into the shitter because we’re printing so much money and there’s global implications. […] And if we don’t, Bitcoin ain’t got nothing.”