Carl Icahn: Inflation Bad For Markets Long Term, Good For Bitcoin?

Longtime activist investor Carl Icahn expects inflation will negatively impact the overall markets in the long term, though he acknowledged rising inflation could be the saving grace for Bitcoin's BTC/USD store of value debate.

"If inflation gets rampant, I guess it does have value," Icahn said Monday on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report."

Whether or not inflation will increase to said point is the question investors should be considering, he noted. 

There are so many variables affecting Bitcoin that make it "a very difficult thing to invest in," Icahn said.

He told CNBC that he has spent a considerable amount of time researching Bitcoin, but he "just can't understand it."

"We're not going to invest in something we don't get," Icahn said. That's not to say that it can't double or triple from current levels, he noted. 

See Also: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's Square Plans To Build Open-Source Bitcoin Mining System

The Impact Of Inflation On The Overall Markets: Rising inflation and the increasing money supply could challenge the U.S. markets over the long term, Icahn said. 

“In the long run we are certainly going to hit the wall."

Icahn stressed that he was unwilling to make a call about the timing of the eventual negative effects of inflation on the markets, but he made it clear that he thinks inflation will eventually take its toll on the markets. 

“I really 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," Icahn said.

BTC Price Action: Bitcoin was up 1.28% at $61,354.34 over a 24-hour period at publication Monday afternoon. 

Photo: tom bark from Pixabay.