Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said on October 19 that the next market crisis might be on the horizon. According to him, Bitcoin might be the best hedge against inflation.
With the US government continuing to stimulate the American economy, Icahn mentioned that he fears the dollar is becoming more devalued. As the dollar devalues, the price of goods is rising. He said on Monday with CNBC:
“In the long run, we are certainly going to hit the wall. I think there will be a crisis the way we are going, the way we are printing money, the way we are going into inflation. If you look around you, you see inflation all around you and I don’t know how you deal with that in the long term.”
His comments come in line with the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said that inflation was surging along with supply issues. Powell highlighted in prepared remarks:
“As the economy continues to reopen and spending rebounds, we are seeing upward pressure on prices, particularly due to supply bottlenecks in some sectors. These effects have been larger and longer-lasting than anticipated, but they will abate, and as they do, inflation is expected to drop back toward our longer-run 2% goal.”
Icahn has confirmed that he has invested billions in crypto in 2021, but still is yet to add a position in this market, at least not that he has announced publicly. The founder of crypto investment firm Mythos Capital and Bankless, Ryan Adams, speculated that Icahn may have a position in the market.
The billionaire still thinks that there may be an alternative to investments in the stock market, and cryptos may be worth exploring:
“We got a lot of smart guys working at Icahn & Company, and we just don’t understand bitcoin. I’m not saying it’s bad or good, I’m just saying we don’t understand it. We’re not going to invest in something we don’t get […] The jury is really out on whether bitcoin has intrinsic value or acts as a store of value. If inflation gets rampant, I guess it does have value. There are so many variables, it is a very difficult thing to invest in.”
