Billionaire Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, says it’s “incredible” what Bitcoin has achieved, but believes the cryptocurrency won’t be cash, a store of value or a medium of exchange. . However, he stressed that “we are in a world where money as we know it is in danger.”
Billionaire Ray Dalio on Bitcoin
Billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio, who founded the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates and previously served as co-chief investment officer, offered his thoughts on bitcoin in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. Referring to the world’s largest cryptocurrency, he said:
I think it’s been pretty amazing that over 12 years it’s been accomplished… But I think it’s unrelated to anything… It’s a small thing that gets disproportionate attention.
Noting that the total market value of bitcoin is less than a third of the shares of Microsoft, whose market capitalization stood at $1.92 trillion on Friday, Dalio said: “Biotech and many other industries are more interesting what bitcoin”. The billionaire opined:
It will not be cash. It is not an effective store of wealth. It is not an effective medium of exchange.
“But we are in a world where money as we know it is in danger… We are printing too much, and it is not just the United States, all the reserve currencies,” he continued, citing problems with the euro and the Japanese yen. In particular. “So in that world, the question is, what is money and how is it going to work? So when we look at something like China’s renminbi, and then you take digital renminbi, I think you’ll see it become more and more of a thing,” Dalio shared.
The Bridgewater Associates founder stressed: “if you want a digital currency, you have to do something different” from bitcoin. However, he noted: “I don’t think stablecoins are good because then you get a fiat currency again.” He added:
What would be better is an inflation-linked currency. In other words, something where you would basically say, okay, this will give me purchasing power because every individual wants. What they want? They want to secure their purchasing power.
“The closest thing to that is an inflation index bond and stuff,” Dalio said. “But if you create a currency that says, okay, this is purchasing power that I know I could save and put my money into for a period of time, and then I can transact anywhere, I think that would be a good currency. ,” he continued. “So I think you’ll probably see development of coins that you haven’t seen that will probably end up being attractive and viable coins. I don’t think it’s bitcoin.”
A lot of people don’t agree with Ray Dalio
After Dalio’s interview, many people took to Twitter to disagree with him. Some people noted that Dalio just described bitcoin, while others pointed out that Bitcoin has been around for more than 14 years, not 12 as the Bridgewater founder claimed.
“An ‘inflation-linked currency’ doesn’t make sense,” commented bitcoin advocate Robert Breedlove. “Lesson for Ray Dalio: The purchasing power of money is preserved through the integrity of its supply. Bitcoin has a perfectly integral money supply of 21M. In the long run, bitcoin is the perfect money to preserve purchasing power over time.”
Gabor Gurbacs, Strategy Advisor at Vaneck/MVIS tweeted: “Ray Dalio is wrong about Bitcoin. I respect Ray’s work and like his books, but his comments on Bitcoin are under-researched and disappointing.” Gurbacs added:
Ray’s views, particularly on the size, scope and importance of the bitcoin market, are troubling. Tens of millions of people use bitcoin around the world, particularly in emerging markets. Bitcoin censorship resistance is changing the game.
Dalio used to have a more bullish outlook on bitcoin. In January 2021, he said: “I think Bitcoin is a great invention. To have invented a new type of money through a system that is programmed into a computer and that has been running for about 10 years and is rapidly gaining popularity as a type of money and as a store of wealth is an amazing achievement.” In February of last year, he confirmed that he holds “a small percentage” of his portfolio in cryptocurrencies.
Nonetheless, he has repeatedly warned that governments may ban bitcoin if the cryptocurrency “goes material,” predicting that the crypto will be “banned, probably by different governments.”
What do you think of the statements of billionaire Ray Dalio? Let us know in the comments section.
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