Billionaire investor and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio have reiterated his position on Bitcoin. For a while, Dalio was a BTC skeptic but eventually warmed up to the cryptocurrency due to its characteristics and the current inflationary macro-economic outlook.
In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Dalio talked about portfolio diversification and warned investors about the dangers of keeping their profits in cash. Referencing a saying that has picked popularity “Cash is Trash”, Dalio acknowledges the value of Bitcoin, and other assets, as a store of value.
As Bitcoinist previously reported, the legendary investors revealed that he has a position in BTC. Dalio has been raising awareness about inflation, and its consequences on the global economy driven by monetary expansion and increased debt.
In this context, cash money becomes an asset that generates negative yield while Bitcoin is more attractive for its capacity to outperform most other assets, as it has proved since inception.
Related Reading: Ray Dalio: China’s Digital Yuan Will Overshadow the Digital Dollar
In that sense, the legendary investor said that all alternatives to cash and traditional financial assets are a “worthy consideration”. In that sense, Dalio classified BTC as a “possibility”.
Dalio still is more bullish on gold and other assets in his portfolio. However, the Bridgewater founder believes regulators could eventually attempt to halt Bitcoin’s growth if it becomes “too successful”.
It’s an amazing accomplishment to have brought it (Bitcoin) from where that programming occurred to where it is in the test of time (…) I think at the end of the day if it’s really successful, they will kill it and they will try to kill it. And I think they will kill it because they have ways of killing it.
Can Governments Really Kill Bitcoin?
When confronted with the possibility that BTC could be adopted at a government level, as it recently happened in El Salvador, Dalio dismissed that idea. He claims that the Central American country cannot create enough counterweight to balance India and China’s action against Bitcoin.
The Asian giants have issued legislation trying to ban all commercial activities related to BTC and cryptocurrencies. China went as far as banning the entire BTC mining sector leading the cryptocurrency to a fresh sell-off that pushed to its yearly open. Dalio said:
You have El Salvador taking on it and you have India and China getting rid of it. And you have the United States talking about how to regulate it and it could still be controlled.
The legendary investors believe the cryptocurrency doesn’t have “intrinsic value” and compared to other assets that historically saw great appreciation, but eventually crashed to 0. For example, the Tulips in Holland.
Related Reading: Ray Dalio’s CFO Ditches Bridgewater For Bitcoin Biz
In that way, Dalio’s remarks seem contradictory. While he denies that Bitcoin has fundamental value, he still has a “small” portion in his portfolio. Author and BTC bull Preston Pysh said the following on the legendary investor’s comments about BTC:
Ray Dalio’s deep relationship with China, makes it understandable why he suggests governments can shut BTC down (p.s. good luck). I think he fails to understand the incentive that most countries have to move away from dollar dominance…& the collective game theory that follows.
At the time of writing, BTC trades at $48,224 with a 3.4% profit in the daily chart.
