Ray Dalio has renewed his criticism of bitcoin’s safe-haven narrative, saying the asset still has not earned the same status as gold. In podcast remarks and a May 11 post on X, the Bridgewater founder argued that bitcoin’s close relationship with tech stocks makes the “digital gold” label harder to defend.
Dalio’s view rests on a few clear points. He said bitcoin remains too “small and controllable” to compete with gold, which he sees as far more universal and systemically important. His comments came after he was asked why bitcoin had not tracked gold, which was up nearly 9% on the year at that point and had briefly traded above $5,500 per ounce in late January, pushing its year-to-date gain to more than 25%.
Gold recovered while bitcoin ended the first quarter sharply lower
According to the source material, gold gave back much of those gains by late March before turning higher again in April. By May 13, it had climbed back above $4,700 per ounce. Bitcoin followed a very different path. After rising more than 10% in the first two weeks of 2026, it fell through the rest of January and into early February, slipping below $60,000.
By the end of the first quarter, bitcoin was down more than 20%. It later recovered part of the decline, but it was still down 7% for the year. For Dalio, that performance weakens the argument that bitcoin acts as a reliable hedge when markets come under stress.
Dalio points to equity correlation and weak privacy
He also highlighted bitcoin’s correlation with equities, especially technology stocks. Dalio said that while the relationship was less visible in the early phase of the Middle East conflict, bitcoin appeared to move in step with tech stocks by the end of March. His explanation was simple: investors under pressure elsewhere in their portfolios sell bitcoin to cover those losses.
“It also has a high correlation with tech stocks. When investors get squeezed in other areas of their portfolio, they sell their bitcoin to cover it,” Dalio said. In his view, that behavior reduces bitcoin’s appeal as a haven asset rather than strengthening it.
Dalio also argued that bitcoin’s transparency works against its safe-haven case. Because transactions can be monitored and controlled, he said, central banks are unlikely to want to hold it.
Michael Saylor says transparency supports bitcoin’s collateral case
Bitcoin supporters pushed back quickly. Strategy chairman Michael Saylor responded that transparency is not a weakness and actually makes bitcoin suitable as global collateral. He added that since Strategy adopted the Bitcoin Standard on Aug. 10, 2020, bitcoin has outperformed gold and delivered a higher Sharpe ratio.
Samson Mow also rejected Dalio’s privacy argument, saying the billionaire needs to educate himself on the asset. Other social media users joined the dispute as well. The exchange leaves one issue at the center of the debate: whether bitcoin can behave like gold in periods of market stress, not whether it can dominate attention in financial markets.