Billionaire Ray Dalio says regulators will destroy bitcoin if it’s really successful

Hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio warned on Wednesday that investors should not become too reliant on cash and that while he owns some bitcoin there’s a danger that governments could destroy the crypto market. 

“First, know cash is trash, so don’t keep it in cash,” Dalio, the founder of $150bn Bridgewater Associates, told US channel CNBC. 

Dalio, 72, who has a $15.6bn fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, said he has some money invested in bitcoin, but it’s a small percentage of his investment in gold, which in turn is a small percentage of his other assets. 

The hedge fund billionaire said that governments don’t want cryptocurrency to succeed, but that doesn’t mean investors shouldn’t diversify. 

Bitcoin, the largest digital currency, has jumped more than 60% in 2021, but has come under increased scrutiny from regulators concerned about how retail investors are engaged with cryptocurrencies.

“At the end of the day if it’s really successful, they’ll kill it,” Dalio said. “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a place.”

Later in the day at the SALT 2021 conference in New York, Dalio cast doubt on the prediction earlier this week by Ark Investment Management’s Cathie Wood that bitcoin will increase tenfold in five years, saying that “doesn’t make sense to me”. 

Bridgewater’s Pure Alpha II hedge fund has gained 1.4% this year to the end of August. The firm manages $105bn in hedge fund assets. 

Bloomberg News. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com