Foreign media reported that Mark Cuban recently sold approximately 80% of his Bitcoin holdings, citing that after the outbreak of war in Iran, gold rose to $5,000, while Bitcoin did not strengthen as he had expected. This statement has once again reignited the longstanding question of whether Bitcoin can truly serve as a safe-haven asset during geopolitical conflicts.
Kurbane said the hedge expectation failed to materialize.
Kuban said in a podcast interview that he previously viewed Bitcoin as a better store of value than gold. However, during the escalation of U.S.-Iran tensions, when gold surged rapidly while Bitcoin briefly declined, he changed his perspective and sold most of his holdings.
According to him, when fiat currencies are under pressure and geopolitical tensions worsen, Bitcoin should have received buying support as a crisis asset, but its actual performance did not reflect this. The article notes that his cryptocurrency allocation at the beginning of the year was approximately 60% Bitcoin, 30% Ethereum, and 10% other tokens.
The synchronized data is not entirely consistent.
However, foreign media also noted that Kuban’s conclusion does not fully align with certain market data. The statistics cited in the article show that since the outbreak of the Iran war on February 28, 2026, Bitcoin has overall recorded gains, while gold has declined after an initial spike.
The article states that Bitcoin was trading at approximately $77,500 when Kuban made his remarks, still about 38% below its October 2025 high but significantly higher than levels before the conflict erupted. Gold briefly reached $5,000 but has since retreated to around $4,500.
Market Reevaluation of the Digital Gold Narrative
The article argues that the core of the controversy is not just whether Cuban reduced his position, but that the market is reassessing Bitcoin’s role. It does not necessarily rise immediately in times of sudden risk, as traditional safe-haven assets do; instead, it behaves more like a highly volatile asset sensitive to macroeconomic liquidity and risk appetite.
However, when extending the observation period, Bitcoin’s cumulative performance during the same market shock may surpass that of gold. This suggests that the “digital gold” narrative has not disappeared—it simply manifests differently than traditional gold. Kuban’s recent reduction in holdings has thus become a highly watched case study prompting renewed market discussion on Bitcoin’s safe-haven attributes.