Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of Dallas Mavericks, boldly defended Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) while castigating anyone who invests in gold in January.

What Happened: In an episode of Club Random podcast with host Bill Maher, released in January 2023, Cuban shared his views on investing — specifically, why he believes investing in gold is a bad idea.

“I want Bitcoin to go down a lot further so I can buy some more,” he said. “If you have gold, you're dumb as f***,” he said.

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Cuban's stance on Bitcoin was a marked departure from Maher, who is “very anti-Bitcoin” and prefers to put his money in gold.

Cuban took a moment to sound off to Maher on why gold isn't the reliable hedge it’s thought to be. He pointed out that although investors perceive value in gold, the asset is more about storing value than protecting it.

“You don't own the gold bar, and if everything went to hell in a handbasket and you had a gold bar, you know what would happen? Someone would beat the f*** out of you or kill you and take your gold bar,” he said.

Maher pointed out that gold is something that is “always worth something”, you can “always sell it” whereas Bitcoin is not. 

The Shark Tank host noted that investing in Bitcoin also functions like a stored value — but unlike gold, it gives investors true protection through its digital ledger. “It’s a digital transaction and it's a stored value…So, people perceive that there is value associated with gold, that there's value associated with Bitcoin.”

This story was originally published on Jan. 1, 2023.

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