Mark Cuban Isn't a Fan of Meme Coins, but He'll Still Invest in Crypto

As the name implies, meme coins aren't meant to be taken seriously. Some may help investors make a quick profit, while others lose their value right away: That's why Mark Cuban doesn't involve himself with them, he said in a recent YouTube interview with social media personality Jules Terpak.

Mark Cuban isn't a fan of meme coins, and he explained why in a recent YouTube interview with social media personality Jules Terpak.

"I'm not a fan of meme coins," the 66-year-old billionaire said. "Obviously, it's a hustle. There's no there there. And so it's just like a game of musical chairs with money. Some people make money and some people won't."

Cuban's comments came in response to the digital debut of the HAWK coin in early December. HAWK was launched by 22-year-old Haliey Welch as a nod to the fact that she's been known as the "hawk-tuah" girl ever since her comments during a man-on-the-street style interview went viral.

HAWK soared to a market capitalization of nearly $500 million before it crashed to $28 million about 24 hours later, according to DEX Screener, a platform that tracks data for various tokens.

The situation led Cuban to feel for Welch. "It wasn't something she fully understood, but she trusted the people around her," he said. "I'm not mad at Haliey at all. I feel bad for her that she got put in this position. … She'll be fine and, you know, what's done is done."

Investors sued the group behind HAWK on Thursday, alleging that they failed to register the meme coin properly.

"I am fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter," Welch wrote in a post on X Friday.

Welch did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It's request for comment.

Some meme coins do well, but most don't have staying power

It takes a unique set of circumstances for a meme coin to thrive, Cuban noted. "Doge became a meme coin that developed a community," he said. "If there's a meme that develops a community so that it's almost like a lottery ticket that everyone gets to talk about, then it's not great, but it's okay."

"You saw people on Reddit continuously going, 'To the moon!'" Cuban added, highlighting the enthusiasm among community members. "But if it's just a meme coin and all we're doing is memeing it," then it doesn't work as an investment with staying power.

That doesn't mean Cuban shies away from taking his chances on cryptocurrency entirely. He lost money after investing in a coin called Titan, which crashed in June 2021, he said. The "Shark Tank" star also invested in Polygon (MATIC) and Injective (INJ), he wrote in a since-deleted January X post.

Some crypto performed well in 2024, particularly Bitcoin, which reached $100,000 by early December. And meme coins like DOGE and Shiba Inu surged in November following former President Donald Trump's victory in a second term.

However, experts anticipate these gains will slow. "We expect token prices to diverge in the near term as [bitcoin] and cash flow-generating tokens that power networks outperform meme tokens," Alkesh Shah, an analyst at Bank of America, told CNBC earlier this month.

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