Former crypto skeptic Carl Icahn, the founder of Icahn Enterprises, told Bloomberg he’s set to enter the crypto market in a “big way” — teasing an investment of around $1.5 billion.
Icahn is an investor and former advisor to the Trump administration, who has a net worth of $15.6 billion according to Forbes. In 2018, Icahn told CNBC that crypto is “ridiculous” and added, “maybe I’m too old for them, but I wouldn’t touch that stuff.”
But speaking on Wednesday, Icahn explained he’s now considering a large investment and that entering the market in such a manner would “not be to buy a few coins or something”:
“I mean, a big way for us would be a billion dollars, billion-and-a-half dollars ... I’m not going to say exactly.”
Icahn joins a growing list of fellow billionaires who have changed their tune over crypto in the past 12 months. When asked about what cryptocurrencies he has his eyes on, the billionaire kept his cards close to his chest and emphasized that:
“Much of the cryptocurrency issued today will not survive, but we believe cryptocurrency in one form or another might be here to stay. To be clear, we have never bought any cryptocurrency, but we are studying it.”
Icahn believes that cryptocurrencies that don’t at least serve as a store of value will be flushed out of the market as “there’s gotta be some form of safety of value there” to survive.
Icahn Enterprises is a $14.5-billion American conglomerate with investments in CVR, Pep Boys and Trump Entertainment Resorts.
Ryan Adams, Ether proponent and founder of crypto investment firm Mythos Capital and Bankless, speculated on Twitter that Icahn’s recent kite flying in the media may indicate he has already entered the market:
“If Carl Icahn hasn’t already bought a billion dollars worth of ETH and BTC why would he announce he’s about to buy a billion dollars worth of ETH and BTC.”
The billionaire expanded further on his views about crypto to Bloomberg, saying he now thinks that skepticism over the value of crypto is a “little wrong-headed,” as he questions the intrinsic value of the United States dollar in comparison to crypto, which could be a store of value and hedge against inflation.
“Well, what’s the value of a dollar? The only value of the dollar really, is because you can use it to pay taxes.”
When Ichan was asked “what is your use case?” for crypto, the 85-year-old spoke about the Ethereum network, noting that “with Ethereum, it’s the underlying blockchain. So, Ethereum has two things: You can use it as a payment system, you can use it as a store of value.”
“Bitcoin to me is just a store of value,” he added.