Mark Cuban Schools Crypto Critic, Blames SEC For FTX-Like Events: 'This Is An Institutional Failure'

Billionaire and prominent television celebrity, Mark Cuban, highlighted a host of cryptocurrency benefits in response to a supposed critic of the asset class.  

What Happened: James Love, Director of an NGO Knowledge Ecology International, posed a sardonic question on the utility of cryptocurrencies to Cuban. He asked, "Other than speculation, avoiding taxes and engaging in criminal activity, what is the utility of crypto?"

Cuban detailed various benefits of digital assets, including minimal transaction fees, easily accessible credit, and insulation against theft.

"For crypto: lower cost of capital transfers, immediate collateralized loans, store of value , tokenization of assets, application and retention of royalties to digital assets like books,  real time, low cost insurance markets , cold storage ownership of significant assets to protect against theft," the entrepreneur argued. 

Regarding incidents like the FTX collapse which questioned the market's credibility, Cuban pinned it on the SEC. 

"This is an institutional failure of the SEC, not a crypto issue," he asserted. "If the SEC has instituted audited collateral and segregation of funds requirements, we would not have seen FTX and others fail."

Why It Matters: Mark Cuban, one of the most influential voices in the crypto space, has advocated for clarity in legal frameworks governing digital assets. 

Like most influencers, he has criticized the SEC’s overbearing approach to the matter, and blamed SEC Chair Gary Gensler for making it impossible for cryptocurrency companies to function in the United States.

With an energetic pro-crypto campaign launched by former U.S. president and current Republican candidate, Donald Trump, many of the players in the space have extended their unequivocal support to the firebrand leader.

Photo: Courtesy of Gage Skidmore on Flicker

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin BTC/USD was trading at $61,037, following a marginal 0.25% growth in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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