"I got hit like everyone else"- When Shark Tank's Mark Cuban opened up about first "crypto bank run" 

In 2021, amongst many, the Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban also witnessed the unexpected crypto bank run. In general terms, the situation of a bank run refers to people panicking about withdrawing their money from the bank due to fear of banks failing shortly. The same situation occurred in 2021 for the first time in the crypto world when cryptocurrency TITAN crashed drastically from $60 to $0.

Iron Finance, the then-owner of TITAN cryptocurrency, compared the phenomenon with that of a bank run, as the investors pulled out the money, leading to a catastrophic failure of the decentralized currency TITAN. Blaming the "big whales," Iron Finance mentioned in the blog post:

"We never thought it would happen, but it just did. We just experienced the world's first large-scale crypto bank run."

However, the Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who was a big supporter of crypto, remarked on Twitter that he got out of the crypto path quite on time.

Here is what the Shark Tank investor tweeted after the crash on June 16, 2021:

"“I got hit like everyone else. Crazy part is I got out, thought they were increasing their TVL [Total Value Locked] enough. Then bam.”

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Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban thinks that investing in cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, is better than investing in gold

Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban has been an ardent believer in the potential of cryptocurrency. After he got caught, like many others, in the 2021 Blood Bath of the TITAN crash, his investing approach might have shifted a bit.

During a recent interview with WIRED in December 2024, Mark Cuban compared Bitcoin, the newest and most popular cryptocurrency, with gold and held Bitcoin on a higher pedestal. He claimed that if he had to bet his chances during a true economic crisis, he would choose Bitcoin over gold. He remarked during the interview:

"People look at bitcoin as a better version of gold, and I agree with that.”

Citing a "practical example," the Shark Tank judge said that if the US dollar collapses, people might put their hopes in the gold they have invested in helping them from getting broken. But Cuban further explained that people generally invest in gold bars, which are not easy to carry and sell and are more susceptible to theft.

Therefore, he believes that relying on cryptocurrency like bitcoin is a better alternative than investing in gold and said:

"It’s easier to buy and sell. You can fractionalize it, you can buy things, you can transfer it internationally. And so I think it has more value than gold.”

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Mark Cuban features as one of the lead investors on Shark Tank Season 16.