Billionaires Marc Cuban and former President Donald Trump both became household names in the U.S. thanks to Mark Burnett-produced reality TV shows – “Shark Tank” and “The Apprentice”, respectively – but that doesn’t mean they see eye-to-eye about finance.
“I guess he doesn’t believe in btc quite as much as the Maxis told him to,” said Cuban, part-owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, in an X post regarding Trump’s “Trump Coins” announcement this weekend. These coins go on sale Wednesday for $100 each.
With “btc,” Cuban was referring to the cryptocurrency Bitcoin and “Maxis” is a term that refers to Bitcoin maximalism, per Investopedia. That outlet explained that Bitcoin maximalists “hold the belief that the Bitcoin network will provide everything that investors want and consumers need in a digital currency in the future,” and are in favor of a Bitcoin monopoly.
Trump, the current GOP presidential candidate, said he thought Bitcoin seemed like a “scam” back in a 2021 interview with Fox News.
By this summer, he was pitching himself as a pro-Bitcoin president, per a CBS News report.
Since his 2021 remark, Trump has also entered the world of cryptocurrency himself. He’s released non-fungible tokens (NFTs) launched a venture to trade cryptocurrencies called World Liberty Financial, according to the Associated Press. Late last month, he released a new lineup of digital trading cards that depict him dancing, wearing a superhero suit, and holding a bitcoin.
Of course, that’s just one example of Trump merch. There are the MAGA hats, T-shirts, expensive sneakers, and now, silver coins.
When asked to explain what the coin launch had to do with Bitcon, Cuban said this: “He is selling the silver coins as a collectible that could increase in value …. An investment. Would a Maxi tell any human on the planet to buy a silver minted coin as an investment over bitcoin?”
In another X post, Cuban further criticized Trump Coins.
“We aren’t talking about personal portfolio decisions. We are talking about the republican candidate pitching an ILLIQUID product that is probably worse than most alt coins, to American citizens in an attempt to profit from their support for him,” said Cuban. “Would you consider a person pushing this illiquid product, rather than btc, eth,, real estate or other liquid assets, someone you can trust for investment advice? Or more likely a con-man? Would you tell ANYONE you know to get business or investment advice from a person selling these coins?”
According to his website, Cuban began a businessman at age 12, when he sold garbage bags door-to-door. Right after he graduated from Indiana University, he founded the company MicroSolutions and sold it to H&R Block. Following that sale, he became an active stock trader, started and sold a hedge fund, started the first commercial streaming company in 1995, co-founded Cost Plus Drugs and more.
Forbes estimates that Cuban has a net worth of $5.75 billion. This May, the outlet said Trump had a net worth at $7.5 billion. While Trump has built a reputation as a real estate mogul over several decades, Forbes said the majority of is net worth as of this spring came from the parent company of his social media app, Truth Social.
Cuban has criticized Trump before. According to CNN, he backed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she ran against Trump in 2016, and at the time said Trump had gone “bats*** crazy.”
In an X post this Tuesday, Cuban also said Trump’s understanding of business is “insane” in a response to the candidate’s proposals for tariffs.
“Put a 200% tariff on the American company moving some production to Mexico But tariff Chinese manufacturers 10 or 20%, so that the Chinese products will be cheaper to sell in the US than the American company,” Cuban said. “Good way to destroy a legendary American company and increase costs to American buyers.”
During the 2024 election cycle, he backed former South Carolina governor and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, in the Republican primaries, according to ABC News. With Trump as the GOP candidate, he decided to back President Joe Biden, and since Biden dropped out, he’s said positive things about the new Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Cuban responded to someone on X who called Harris a socialist with a post indicating that Trump “sounds like a Communist to him,” citing Trump’s comments about John Deere and Taylor Swift.