Famed hedge fund manager and former Bitcoin critic Ray Dalio believes Bitcoin is a better buy than bonds. Speaking during the Abu Dhabi Finance Week in the United Arab Emirates, the founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, warned about the unsustainable amounts of debt in major economies, stressing his preference for “hard money” such as Bitcoin and gold. “I want to steer away from debt assets like bonds and debt and have some hard money like gold and Bitcoin,” he quipped, as reported on Dec. 10 by the South China Morning Post . Dalio argued that besides Germany, other nations like the US and China have witnessed indebtedness grow at “unprecedented levels”. In his opinion, it’s “impossible for these countries to be able to not have a debt crisis” in the coming years that will lead to a huge money devaluation. Ray Dalio’s Complicated Relationship With Bitcoin Dalio, one of the globe’s wealthiest men, has historically held both positive and negative sentiments about BTC. “I don’t think digital currencies will succeed in the way people hope they would,” he posited in 2020, citing inherent volatility, limited use cases, and a lack of government control. He first admitted owning some Bitcoin back in May 2021. But despite describing Bitcoin as “one hell of an invention”, Dalio claimed that the flagship crypto could end up being killed by the government if it became too successful . Later the same year, the billionaire’s stance softened somewhat as he asserted that Bitcoin was “the younger generation’s alternative” to gold. In 2022, the billionaire investor recommended a 1% to 2% Bitcoin allocation for investor portfolios. Back then, Dalio lauded BTC for its resilience against hacks and stated that it had no better challenger in the market. But in Feb. 2023, he said during a CNBC interview that he doesn’t like Bitcoin. “It’s not going to be an effective money,” he opined at the time, adding: “It’s not an effective storehold of wealth. It’s not an effective medium of exchange.” Bitcoin hit an all-time high last week of $103,679 after breaching the long-anticipated $100,000 milestone . However, it has cooled off in the last day, currently priced at $99,827. The alpha crypto is up 1.9% in the last week, and 5.2% in the last two weeks.
