Ray Dalio, billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, disclosed that Bitcoin comprises a small part of his portfolio—about 1%—and reiterated his reservations about the asset’s viability as a global reserve currency.
Dalio highlights Bitcoin’s limitations
In a recent interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Dalio explained his cautious approach:
“I have a small percentage of Bitcoin… I’ve had it forever, like 1% of my portfolios.”
Dalio argued that Bitcoin’s transparent ledger and technical constraints hinder its adoption by major economies as a reserve asset. He stated:
“It’s not going to be a reserve currency for major countries because it can be tracked.”
Security concerns and quantum computing
Dalio also voiced concerns about the long-term security of Bitcoin, particularly as advances in computing technology, such as quantum computing, could pose risks to the network’s integrity. He suggested that future breakthroughs could compromise Bitcoin’s security:
“It could be conceivably, with quantum computing, controlled, hacked, and so on and so forth.”
Evolving views and influence
While Dalio has previously described Bitcoin as a digital alternative to gold, he has consistently warned about regulatory and geopolitical risks. In a 2021 interview, he said:
“If it becomes really successful, they will kill it. And they have ways of killing it.”
However, by late 2021, Dalio acknowledged Bitcoin’s resilience, noting its track record of not being hacked or shut down. Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao recently hinted he may have influenced Dalio’s decision to allocate to Bitcoin.
