Mark Cuban Is Bullish on Bitcoin. Should You Be, Too?

Up 58% for the year, Bitcoin (BTC 0.69%) remains one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies of 2024. At its current price of $67,000, Bitcoin is within striking distance of its all-time high of $73,750 and appears poised for a strong year-end rally.

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban has become increasingly bullish on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and is urging investors to consider adding the world's most popular cryptocurrency to their portfolios. Cuban's interest in Bitcoin has piqued the curiosity of many investors, prompting them to evaluate the merits of investing in BTC. Here's a closer look at the case for and against buying Bitcoin.

The case for buying Bitcoin is clear: massive upside potential. When asked in July how much higher Bitcoin could go, Cuban's response was succinct: "Way higher than you think." For context, just 11 years ago, Bitcoin was trading for less than $100. At the time, who could have conceived of investors seriously discussing a $1 million price tag for Bitcoin?

But Cuban sees more in Bitcoin than just its phenomenal upside potential. For instance, Cuban suggests that Bitcoin can serve as a safe haven asset during periods of political uncertainty. He's also convinced that Bitcoin — like gold — can be a store of value, particularly in hyperinflationary economic environments. As a result, Bitcoin offers some surprising downside risk protection for investors.

There's one more aspect of Bitcoin that appeals to Cuban — its ability to function as a global digital currency. In fact, Cuban has suggested that Bitcoin could eventually serve as a world reserve currency, akin to the role played by the U.S. dollar today. If so, it would dramatically boost worldwide demand for Bitcoin, creating fresh upward price pressure for years, if not decades, to come.

Cuban is so bullish on Bitcoin that he's now a leading figure in Crypto4Harris, a loose coalition of tech investors and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs backing a pro-crypto strategy for Vice President Kamala Harris. Cuban has even suggested that he'd be willing to serve as the new head of the SEC in a Harris administration.

But let's not forget that just a few years ago, Cuban was a Bitcoin skeptic. In 2019, he famously suggested that he'd rather buy bananas than Bitcoin. That's because he didn't see any clear utility for Bitcoin. At least with bananas, there's the inherent nutritional value. "I could eat bananas — Bitcoin, not so much," he said at the time.

Cuban admitted that he didn't understand the point of buying crypto at all. To him, buying Bitcoin was akin to investing in baseball cards or comic books. Sure, the digital asset may have value for die-hard enthusiasts, but what about the rest of us? Bitcoin, he said, simply didn't have any intrinsic value, and that made it hard to trust. If you've ever wondered why someone would pay $1 million for a rare baseball card, you've also likely wondered why someone would pay $1 million for a single Bitcoin.

Which brings us to the crux of the matter: Many investors still question whether Bitcoin is a "home run" investment. In 2019 — just two years before Bitcoin went on to hit a then-all-time high of $69,000 — things weren't clear at all. Even today, it's still not clear whether Bitcoin will ever breach the $100,000 price point.

So before you decide to follow Cuban and buy Bitcoin, you need to be comfortable with its value as a digital asset. If you don't "get" how Bitcoin could fundamentally transform the modern global financial system, then it might not be right for you.