Why Mark Cuban Thinks Bitcoin Is a Better Investment Than Gold

Bitcoin has always been a divisive investment. It feels like every week, we hear from another expert investor or market analyst decrying Bitcoin as a “fad” or a “scam.” We have heard it from traditional veteran investors such as Warren Buffett (the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway), and more recently, the economist and risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb went on the record to warn against Bitcoin investments – after he came to the conclusion that the crypto bubble was likely to burst in the not too distant future.

However, for every crypto critic, there is another crypto optimist, and Bitcoin has shown that it has plenty of its own celebrity billionaire supporters too. In the last couple of years, we’ve seen all kinds of celebrities come out in favour of various cryptocurrencies. The iconic world-class footballer Lionel Messi has spoken about his love of blockchain technology, for example – while esteemed actor Ashton Kutcher and world champion boxer Mike Tyson are just two others we’ve heard from on the subject of crypto and blockchain.

The most recent celebrity endorsement we’ve seen comes from Mark Cuban, the billionaire financial expert and investor who had a running feature on Shark Tank. Mark Cuban has himself invested in Bitcoin, and in his latest comments on the subject, he explains how he thinks Bitcoin is a safer investment than gold.

 

Is Bitcoin Really Safer Than Investing in Gold?

So, is Bitcoin a better investment than gold? Before we can answer that question, let’s take a closer look at Mark Cuban’s argument. Cuban points out that Bitcoin is backed up by a digital ledger, and this means its investors are able to maintain a certain degree of privacy over their holdings. In comparison, he says, when an economy enters a crisis state, you might lose your physical reserves such as gold – banks can collapse, after all – while gold also gives criminals an irresistible physical target to go after.

These comments came while Mark Cuban was speaking on Bill Maher’s podcast Club Random. The host mentioned he had made a “safe haven” investment in gold, to which Cuban replied that if times got bad, a criminal could “kill you and take your gold bar.” That’s not so easy with a virtual currency that’s protected on a digital ledger, he explained – and he told Maher that this was why he had decided to invest in Bitcoin himself.

Comparing Gold and Bitcoin

In terms of determining investment potential, gold is often taken as the universal benchmark. Both critics and supporters of crypto investments tend to make comparisons against investing in gold reserves. For a start, both systems work on the principle of scarcity – there is only so much gold in the world, and the number of Bitcoins is similarly limited.

Those who favour physical investments in gold often point to the metal’s wider utility in the real world. After all, since prehistoric times, people have been using gold as a status signifier, and it can be turned into a variety of practical objects such as coins or jewellery. Gold is typically less volatile than Bitcoin too, and it tends to hold a more stable value without all the rapid fluctuations that we often see in the value of cryptocurrencies.

However, Mark Cuban does raise a very salient point – after all, how many heist movies have you seen where the criminals’ target is a safe full of gold bars? By investing in gold, it might be said that you’re almost putting a target on yourself. Compared to these super valuable, super attractive, pocket-sized bars, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin – while they might not have real world utility in the same way – do however pose what is arguably a far more secure and theft-proof investment.

That’s not to say that the world of Bitcoin is entirely free from crime. Far from it! We regularly hear about new scams in the crypto sector, and it has been reliably reported that millions of dollars are lost per year through the actions of crypto-targeted criminals. But generally speaking, these crimes can only really happen at the point of sale, by conning or deceiving buyers into investing in dubious new tokens, or other such schemes.

 

There are plenty of ways to safeguard your investments and to effectively defend yourself against any and all crypto scams. For a start, you want to make sure that you are approaching this market with the best possible tools at your disposal. That will mean paying close attention to choosing the right crypto wallet for your needs – and you will also want to make sure that you are only buying and selling through safe and reputable crypto exchanges.

 

The Last Word: Is Bitcoin Really Safer than Gold?

In the end, we all need to answer this question for ourselves. The Bitcoin critics have spoken, and there are some who believe that cryptocurrencies, in general, are a fad, prone to scams, and ultimately with no real-world value to offer. On the other hand, however, Mark Cuban certainly makes a compelling argument when he points out the security advantages of Bitcoin.

So long as you buy your cryptocurrencies through safe and trusted exchanges and with a properly encrypted crypto wallet, your Bitcoin investments are significantly more secure than Fort Knox. There’s just literally nothing for criminals to get their hands on. In terms of well-liked platforms that have stood the test of time, many experts recommend Bit Alpha AI for new and experienced investors alike. You can visit the website and gain access to unique trading tools and globally respected brokers.

This security factor is one of the reasons why we’ve seen so many interesting adoptions of cryptocurrencies in recent years. One interesting trend to keep an eye on is the number of developing economies that have started to accept Bitcoin as legal tender – including, for example, El Salvador or the Central African Republic.

Particularly in countries that might have potential security concerns, keeping well-secured Bitcoin for a national reserve instead of a vault somewhere stuffed full of gold bullion, might prove to be a very wise decision. The other effect of this is that the more often Bitcoin is tied to real world economies and currencies, the more it shores up and stabilises the value of Bitcoin itself – which in turn is good news for all of us.

Here’s something else to keep in mind – you don’t actually even need to answer the question, “Is Bitcoin better than gold?” A pragmatic investor with the available funds might actually think about perhaps taking portfolios in both. Although the media will often frame this as an either/or situation, the reality is that you can just as easily sidestep the question altogether and buy both.

Ultimately though, for its convenience, security, universality, and the huge untapped potential that we believe it’s still likely to grow into in 2023, our money has to be on Bitcoin as the better (and certainly, more interesting) investment. We’re with Mark Cuban all the way on this one, and we’re frankly excited to see where Bitcoin is going to take us this year.

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