The billionaire investor is closely studying cryptocurrencies.

Carl Icahn, the billionaire and famed activist investor, said on a Bloomberg interview Wednesday that he was contemplating investing in cryptocurrencies “in a big way.” Ultimately, he may buy an alternative currency as an investment worth $1 billion or more, he said. (Fortune)

“I’m looking at the whole business,” said Icahn, referring to the crypto industry. “I’m not looking at what to buy necessarily at this time.”

Though Icahn hasn’t yet invested in any cryptocurrencies, he commented that he studied bitcoin, ethereum, and the crypto sector as a whole, looking for opportunities in the future.

Inflation and the value of the dollar

Icahn said cryptocurrencies were on the up and up as a fallout of rising inflation in the economy.

“A natural manifestation of the tremendous amount of dollars flooding our economic system is that investors start to get concerned about the value of our currency, and this concern will increase if higher inflation continues,” he observed.

“Well, what’s the value of a dollar? The only value of the dollar is because you can use it to pay taxes,” he said. “I’m looking at the whole business, and how I might get involved in it.”

On cryptocurrencies, Icahn said it would be a “little wrong-headed” to say they had no underlying value.

Cryptos for diversification

The billionaire also said investors were diversifying away from ridiculously priced equities to alternative currencies.

“Some of these companies might be OK, but a number of them, the risk-reward is absurd,” he said about stocks.

But “much of the cryptocurrency issued today will not survive, but we believe cryptocurrency in one form or another might be here to stay,” Icahn said.

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