Ray Dalio said he still holds Bitcoin, but the asset accounts for only 1% of his portfolio, while gold remains his preferred investment.
Speaking on Thursday’s episode of the Diary of a CEO podcast, the Bridgewater Associates founder said there are different forms of money and that Bitcoin is one of them, but added that gold is the better investment.
Dalio says Bitcoin is a form of money, but not his top choice
Dalio said, "[Bitcoin] is a type of money that can’t be printed, but there are technologies that can hurt it — in other words, if there’s quantum computing."
He added that Bitcoin can be monitored by governments and could be taxed. He also said digital currencies are somewhat similar in that respect.
On his own allocation, Dalio said Bitcoin makes up just 1% of his portfolio. "I prefer that — I’m pointing to the gold bars here — rather than the Bitcoin," he said on the show.
A cautious stance that has shifted, but only partly
According to the report, Dalio has changed his public position on Bitcoin over the years. He once said he would not invest in Bitcoin, and later acknowledged that it had entered his portfolio.
Last year, Dalio also said Bitcoin made up only 1% of his investments.
This is not the first time he has criticized Bitcoin while speaking positively about gold. In 2020, the billionaire investor said the cryptocurrency was too volatile to function as money, while also saying that everyone should have some gold in their portfolio.
Government pressure remains one of his concerns
Dalio said governments could crack down on Bitcoin. "When the governments say I don’t want it, they have the power, therefore, to do whatever they want with it, and central banks will not own any significant amount of that because of the reason I said: they want their transactions to be private and in their control."
In his view, that is also why central banks will not own any significant amount of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin’s standing among traditional investors has grown
While Dalio remains cautious about buying Bitcoin, the report said the asset has become more widely accepted over the years among traditional investors and Wall Street heavyweights, including BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has in recent years called Bitcoin an international asset and a way of digitizing gold.
The article was first published by Bitcoin Magazine and written by Mathew Di Salvo.