Mark Cuban says bitcoin 'lost the plot' as an inflation hedge — and sold most of his. But crypto veterans say he may have panic-sold at the worst time

“I always thought it was a better version of gold than gold. Well, gold just blew up and went to $5,000; Bitcoin dropped,” Cuban said. “Every time the dollar dropped, Bitcoin should have gone up.”

Some Bitcoin aficionados, such as Blockstream CEO Adam Back, say Cuban hasn’t given Bitcoin a fair shake. “I don’t know what @mcuban is trying to say .. doesn’t line up with data unless he sold the bottom,” Back said on X last week.

Does Bitcoin make a good inflation hedge? Was Cuban right to sell? Here’s how the math breaks down.

Does bitcoin work as an inflation hedge?

An investment counts as an inflation hedge if it helps protect its investor against the ever-decreasing purchasing power of money. If it holds value while money loses its value, then it probably makes a good inflation hedge. Fiat currency like the US dollar loses some amount of value each year because the government can (and will) print more of it as needed. The more dollars are printed, the less each individual dollar is worth.

Tangible goods with limited reproducibility make good inflation hedges because you can’t easily make more of them as needed. Gold is a classic inflation hedge, but other tangible goods like real estate also make good inflation hedges if you’re afraid of your money losing its value.

Bitcoin isn’t a tangible good the same way gold is; you can’t physically hold it. But the number of Bitcoins that can exist is capped: There can only ever be 21 million coins. In theory, this makes Bitcoin a good hedge against inflation. But how does it work in practice?

That answer is a little less clear. One 2021 study found Bitcoin was a good hedge against inflation; however, they also found it was not a safe haven against financial uncertainty like that caused by the Iran War.

A more recent 2025 study found its use as an inflation hedge is more context-specific, working for one inflation measure (CPI) but not another (Core PCE). It also found bitcoin’s hedging properties have been disappearing since the COVID-19 outbreak.

If you’re solely interested in finding a good inflation hedge, there’s a good chance you can do better than Bitcoin.