Benzinga | Nov 5, 2021 09:14AM EDT

Mark Cuban Says He Is An 'Ethereum Maxi,' But Not All Layer-1 Blockchains Will Survive

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban told Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd (OTC:BRPHF) CEO Mike Novogratz that he is an Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) maximalist.

What Happened: In a recent Next with Novo podcast episode, Cuban said: "I have my fair share of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), but I'm more of an Ethereum maxi."

Cuban compared today's opportunity with smart contract platforms such as Ethereum to the shift to digitally-based businesses in the mid-'90s.

"Back then there was a gold rush to try to figure out what was going to win. There were multiple streaming protocols, there was an unlimited number of websites, and it was really technology-based until it became more comfortable. We're seeing the same thing now," he said.

"We're seeing a rush where there are lots of different blockchains that are competing."

According to Cuban, it will all come down to the most well-developed applications when companies integrate with blockchains and put smart contracts to work for them.

"That's when we'll start to see things really level out. I don't think all the L1s [Layer-1] are going to survive," he said.

Cuban went on to note that although these other Layer-1s may technically still survive by means of existence, they would no longer be thriving because they "won't be part of the conversation" any longer.

"I think the red flag right now is that everybody's trying to replicate what's happening on one chain on the other chain ... but I don't see how, even with the best of bridging, how all that is going to be sustainable," he said.

ETH Price Action: On Wednesday, Ethereum hit an all-time high of $4,664. On Thursday afternoon, Ethereum was trading at $4,467.84, down 2.75% in the last 24 hours.

Photo by JD Lasica on Flickr