Mark Cuban Dumps Bitcoin After Hedge Thesis Fails — But the Monetary Bet Isn't Dead Yet

Mark Cuban sold most of his Bitcoin holdings after concluding it failed as a hedge against fiat weakness and geopolitical risk — calling it 'not the hedge I expected it to be.' The data backs his frustration: Bitcoin traded around $77,663 in mid-May 2026, roughly 38% below its October 2025 record of $126,000, while spot gold hit an all-time high of $5,594.82 on January 29. World Gold Council data shows Q1 gold demand reached $193 billion in dollar value, up 74% year over year, with central banks adding 244 tonnes net.

The problem is that Cuban applied a gold benchmark to an asset that never consistently moved like gold. Bitcoin's whitepaper describes peer-to-peer money with a 21 million supply cap — not a crisis shelter.