Mark Cuban Sells Bitcoin, Moves Holdings Into Ethereum

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban sold most of his Bitcoin after he judged it failed to act as a hedge amid weakening confidence in fiat currencies and rising geopolitical risk. He called Bitcoin “not the hedge I expected it to be” and is moving more capital into Ethereum.

Bitcoin traded around $77,663 in mid-May 2026, roughly 38% below its early-October 2025 peak near $126,000. Spot gold reached a record $5,594.82 on Jan. 29, and silver hit $121.64 the same day. Data from the World Gold Council show quarterly gold demand, including over-the-counter transactions, at 1,231 tonnes in the first quarter, with the dollar value of that demand at a record $193 billion. Central banks added a net 244 tonnes, and bar-and-coin demand rose to 474 tonnes.

On-chain data firms and market analysts describe Bitcoin as a liquidity-sensitive, high-beta asset that has often moved with equity markets during risk-off episodes and rallied when risk appetite returned. A May 20 report from an on-chain data firm described Bitcoin as structurally resilient while noting weaker spot demand, slower exchange-traded fund accumulation and more defensive options positioning. The cryptocurrency moved with equities during an April tariff shock last year, then rose to an October record before a subsequent leverage-driven drawdown.

The Bitcoin protocol is defined as a peer-to-peer monetary network with no central issuer and a capped supply that halves issuance over time until 21 million coins exist. That protocol description does not include a guarantee that Bitcoin will appreciate during periods of geopolitical stress.

Market measures show Bitcoin’s realized volatility remains much higher than gold’s, and its price has been sensitive to ETF flows, regulatory developments and leverage cycles. During the recent drawdown, supply classified as long-term held rose by more than 2 million BTC to about 16.3 million BTC, with roughly 200,000 BTC added in the past month, according to on-chain data.

Price models illustrate a wide range of near-term outcomes. A March 2026 outlook from a major bank set a 12-month base case of $112,000, a recessionary downside of $58,000 and a bull case of $165,000. An on-chain metrics provider places the Realized Price near $54,900 as a lower structural boundary and identifies $70,000 as a pre-election reference level for market support.

Cuban applied a hedge standard to Bitcoin’s behavior during recent stress. Other market participants focus on long-duration characteristics such as fixed supply, permissionless transferability and operation without a central issuer. The long-term holder accumulation and the protocol’s supply cap were unchanged through the same period in which Cuban reduced his Bitcoin holdings.