Mark Cuban says crypto is ‘exactly like the internet stock bubble’

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban says the cryptocurrency market is “exactly” like the dot-com bubble of the late-1990s and early 2000s. His statement seems to signal that digital-asset valuations may implode once investor exuberance runs out. 

“Watching the cryptos trade, it’s EXACTLY like the internet stock bubble. EXACTLY,” Cuban tweeted on Monday before offering a silver lining to crypto enthusiasts.

Watching the cryptos trade, it’s EXACTLY like the internet stock bubble. EXACTLY. I think btc, eth , a few others will be analogous to those that were built during the dot-com era, survived the bubble bursting and thrived, like AMZN, EBay, and Priceline. Many won’t

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) January 11, 2021

Although the internet bubble didn’t end well for the vast majority of dot-com stocks, several rose from the ashes to form legitimate companies, Cuban said. Amazon, eBay and Priceline immediately came to mind.

In Cuban’s view, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and “a few others” will likely follow a similar trajectory as their value proposition and use cases continue to grow.

Cuban’s seemingly positive outlook on the top two cryptocurrencies came even as he dispelled all the narratives surrounding monetary debasement and fiat currency. These are “just sales pitches,” he said, arguing that crypto valuations are based only on supply and demand.

As during the dot-com bubble “the experts” try to justify whatever the pricing of the day is. Crypto , much like gold , is a supply and demand driven All the narratives about debasement, fiat, etc are just sales pitches. The biggest sales pitch is scarcity vs demand. That’s it

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) January 11, 2021

Cuban hasn’t quite gotten his story straight on Bitcoin. He once argued that bananas are a better medium of exchange than BTC and said the digital asset will act more like a collectible than a financial instrument.

But just last month, he praised Bitcoin’s monetary policy by arguing that public companies should “commit to not issue new shares of stock” ever. He was, of course, referring to Bitcoin’s capped supply of 21 million units hardwired into the code.

Crypto assets were in the spotlight again on Monday after the total market shed over $200 billion peak-to-trough. Zooming out, the total market capitalization has appreciated fourfold over the past year, with Bitcoin recently hitting all-time highs of around $42,000.