Investor Carl Icahn Says He Might Put $1Bn in Crypto After Calling It ‘Ridiculous’ 

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is contemplating making a big funding in cryptocurrency.

The 85-year-old businessman had beforehand made feedback crucial of cryptocurrency as a complete, in 2018 calling the know-how “ridiculous.”

Nevertheless, in an interview with Bloomberg revealed Thursday morning, Icahn recommended his stance has modified.

Chatting with Bloomberg hosts Taylor Riggs and Caroline Hyde, Icahn mentioned the usage of cryptocurrency as a “retailer of worth” as a pure response to inflation.

Relating to cryptocurrency’s use case, Icahn said: “‘What is the worth of a cryptocurrency?’ Nicely, what is the worth of a greenback? The one worth of a greenback, actually, is as a result of you need to use it to pay taxes.”

Requested whether or not he was going to make an funding in any specific cryptocurrency token akin to Bitcoin or Ethereum, Icahn stated: “I am simply trying on the entire enterprise and the way I would become involved in it with Icahn Enterprises in a comparatively huge manner, as a result of I do assume it is right here to remain in a single kind or one other.”

He clarified {that a} “comparatively huge” funding for Icahn Enterprises may very well be “a billion {dollars}, a billion and a half {dollars}, one thing like that,” however declined to say precisely how a lot he would possibly put into cryptocurrency.

On the identical time, the investor solid some doubt on elements of the cryptocurrency market and recommended not all tokens would survive lengthy into the long run. He stated: “I do not assume there will probably be lots of its survivors which can be on the market buying and selling at present. I feel there’s gotta be some type of… security of worth there.”

Icahn claimed he didn’t have any cash in cryptocurrency on the time of the interview.

In 2018 Icahn had a taken a extra crucial stance on the know-how, voicing concern about how digital currencies may very well be regulated.

He instructed CNBC on the time they have been “ridiculous” and added: “Possibly I am too previous for them, however I would not contact that stuff.”

Icahn is a widely known Wall Avenue determine and has been described as a shareholder activist—an individual who makes use of their funding in an organization as leverage to facilitate adjustments in how that firm operates.

Cryptocurrency has made headlines this yr owing to massive good points made by many tokens akin to Bitcoin and Dogecoin. Nevertheless, Bitcoin was hit with a big dip final week whereas trillions of {dollars} have been wiped off of the worth of the broader cryptocurrency market as a complete, CoinMarketCap information exhibits.

Consultants have beforehand warned Newsweek concerning the dangers related to cryptocurrency buying and selling, together with value volatility.