Billionaire Ray Dalio Softens On Bitcoin, Says It’s A Gold Alternative

Hedge fund manager and founder of Bridgewater Associates, Ray Dalio, seems to have softened his position on bitcoin. He went from dismissing BTC as a currency and store of value through a “what am I missing stage,” and most recently admitted that the cryptocurrency could be an alternative to gold.

Ray Dalio’s Bitcoin Transformation

The prominent investor and philanthropist has never displayed favoritism regarding bitcoin. Just the opposite, he has questioned BTC’s role as a store of value or as a currency, mainly relying on the notorious volatility. At Davos earlier this year, Dalio even said that the cryptocurrency fails the purposes of money.

However, as the COVID-19 pandemic infiltrated the Western World and brought unexpected developments to global economies and numerous financial assets, the traditional investor started showing more interest in BTC.

As the primary cryptocurrency started surging in value in the past few months, he admitted to his Twitter followers that he might be “missing something about Bitcoin.” Max Keiser classified this moment as a turning point and that we have seen the “education of a Bitcoiner.”

During an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit yesterday, Dalio seemed more optimistic about bitcoin’s role in the monetary field. He even claimed that BTC could serve as an alternative to gold due to its merits:

“I think that bitcoin (and some other digital currencies) have over the last ten years established themselves as interesting gold-like asset alternatives, with similarities and differences to gold and other limited-supply, mobile (unlike real estate) storeholds of wealth. So it could serve as a diversifier to gold and other such storeholds of wealth assets.”

Still Not Entirely Convinced

Despite noting that bitcoin could be an alternative to gold, Dalio further explained that he still prefers the precious metal.

He outlined his “strong preference for holding those things which central banks are going to hold and exchange value in when they are trying to transact,” suggesting that the cryptocurrency is still not such an asset.

Nevertheless, he advised people who might want to allocate funds in bitcoin, or other limited supply and mobile assets, including stocks, to diversify wisely as “not a lot of people do that.”

Featured Image Courtesy of BusinessInsider