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Crypto sleuths have taken a peek into the ethereum (ETH) wallet of the outspoken American billionaire Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball franchise. And it turns out that Cuban owns a lot more altcoins and what he has labeled 'shitcoins' than previously assumed.
The entrepreneur appears to own a number of tokens, including serum (SRM), monolith (TKN), growth (GRO), friends with benefits (FWB), MASQ, HYVE, OPEN. He also seems to own quite a few other coins, including decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens.
"I definitely got my share of shitcoins lol," Cuban commented on Twitter, although he stopped short of naming those he would categorize as such.
He also has USD 123,285 in Staked AAVE, as well as some interest-bearing aWETH and aAAVE. Cuban mentioned AAVE in a Twitter comment earlier this month, suggesting he has an interest in either the token or DeFi, or perhaps both.
And that address was funded for 1,000 ETH by this address... pic.twitter.com/BY6UfHMlqt
— Nick Chong (@n2ckchong) January 27, 2021
And although it's not known who funded the wallet, commenters have speculated that Cuban has in fact likely been in the crypto game for a while.
Cuban's wallet was discovered and revealed to the Cryptoverse by The Block's Head of Research Steven Zheng, after he found what he claims is an associated address on Cuban's nonfungible tokens (NFTs) marketplace Rarrible account.
The sleuthing was a follow-up from the billionaire's tweet featuring a video of him dancing in Mavericks gear, which he announced was available from his own account on the Rarible platform.
In a recent interview with CoinDesk, Cuban said that he never thought bitcoin (BTC) was "anything more than a store of value." He reiterated that gold and bitcoin are pretty much the same, in the sense that "no one really needs" either of them.
When asked if BTC would reach USD 1 million, he answered that this would depend on the number of people and institutions who decided to replace gold with BTC, said Cuban, and also on "whether DeFi becomes a real bank alternative that anyone can use." He complained that "whales control the [bitcoin] game" and that there aren't enough big BTC owners, leaving too many tokens in too few hands. "That creates market liquidity and market-maker challenges," he added.
Cuban claimed that, as the price of bitcoin climbs, so too does the pressure on buyers and investors, who risk greater losses. "HODLers don't care. They have their stash already. But to everyone else getting involved, the volatility is high-stress," he said.
However, Cuban claimed that it is possible for bitcoin to find use in non-investment scenarios "if DeFi and BTC can evolve together in a manner that allows BTC to effectively be a bank account without the bank."
Meanwhile, he expressed his approval for Ethereum, saying that it is a primary foundation for DeFi, and adding that "we will see what happens with ETH 2."
DeFi itself "has a shot" if it survives its Wild West-style beginnings, he opined, adding:
"If they can get away from the fear of KYC [know-your-customer protocols] and other regulations, and let the products leverage their advantages, it really could change banking, dramatically."
That said, the Mavericks supremo said he did not foresee BTC becoming a beneficiary, claiming that it was "too volatile."
That said, Cuban admitted that he finds the upside of the bitcoin and blockchain space to be "truly unlimited."
Cuban said last year that he might change his stance on bitcoin if it became much more user-friendly, to the point where "grandmas" could understand and use it.
A few months before that he stated that his mind would not be changed by technical discussions, but only by "actual usage by consumers, who choose BTC over the many other options."
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Learn more:
Mark Cuban Might Finally Like Bitcoin If It Becomes 'Grandma-Friendly'
Mark Cuban: Don't Convince Me, Convince Your Neighbor About Bitcoin
10 Superstar Traditional Investors Who Have Endorsed Bitcoin