Edward C. Baig

USA TODAY

AUSTIN — Billionaire Mark Cuban sat down to talk to an audience of entrepreneurs at South by Southwest this weekend.

USA TODAY's Edward C. Baig caught up with Cuban afterward and got him to weigh in on Bitcoin, and to discuss the reasons for his new private messaging app called Cyber Dust, which Cuban describes as Snapchat for texting. Messages disappear forever seconds after they're sent.

Q: What do you think of Bitcoin?

Cuban: That's a good question. I think as an encryption technology, it's great. I think as a transport mechanism that it's unique and has a great opportunity in the future. I think it's got no shot as a long-term digital currency.

Q: Would you buy any?

Cuban: I'd look at it, but more as fun. It's almost like buying and selling baseball cards. It's just about supply and demand, almost like buying stocks, too. But there's definitely risk involved if you're looking at it to be a long-term currency.

I analogize it very much to gold. You've got to physically hold gold. You have to physically hold your private key, which is the same thing as holding gold. It's more of a religion right now than it is anything else. There's … industrial applications for gold, but that doesn't drive the value. It's more perceived value.

And it's the same thing with Bitcoin. The perceived value of where it is going to go is what drives the day-to-day valuations and valuation swings.

The other telling tale in terms of currency, besides the fact that no central bank is going to ever let (go of) control of how they deal with their own economy, is no one that I've seen so far that's in traditional sales that is taking Bitcoin keeps it as Bitcoin. They all translate it to dollars. And if you translate it into dollars, it's not a currency.

Q: What is your hope for Cyber Dust?

Cuban: It won't replace texting, but I want it to be a good complement to texting. We all have risks. When we text something, you lose control of it. It's not so much what we do, but it's the people who are on the receiving side. You don't know what they're going to do. In business, you could be talking about an employee, and someone keeps that text, and then they go to another company, and then all of a sudden, 'Look what he said.'

Over time, the things that we say digitally, including our texts, lose context. It may be something that made perfect sense that I texted it to you today, but if you keep that text or forward that text, three years from now if it surfaces (or becomes) discoverable in a lawsuit, then it loses all that context, and people can say it means anything. I think you really have to gain control of your digital footprint.

Kids are understanding that now. That's why Snapchat's been so popular. They don't want to have that footprint out there. They recognize that who you follow on Twitter, where you reply on Twitter, what you say on Pinterest, who you follow on Pinterest, who you follow on Tumblr, what you put on Tumblr, what you put on Facebook, who you follow on Facebook, that all defines who you are. That's all mine-able data to create a profile of you. Kids are recognizing that. And I think adults need to start recognizing that.

Q: Is this for consumers as well as business?

Cuban: It's consumer, too. My kids are angels, but there's going to be a time when my daughter sends a text to somebody that says, 'Oh, you're my favorite' or 'Thanks for last night, it was my best date ever.' And that scumbag boy keeps it and when they break up, sends it to his friends. The real goal is to understand that once you send a text and it's not in an application like Cyber Dust, then you lose control of it. And even in the most innocent of circumstances, whether it's business or personal, it can be misused."

Follow Ed Baig on Twitter: @edbaig.