Ray Dalio: Bitcoin ‘Not Effective’ as a Store of Value or Medium of Exchange

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio is not a fan of bitcoin.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the billionaire macro trader advocated for having a bit of gold in your portfolio but warned investors against more speculative investments, such as bitcoin:

“There’s two purposes of money, a medium of exchange and a store hold of wealth, and bitcoin is not effective in either of those cases now,” Dalio said.

“It’s too volatile,” he added. “Because of the volatility, you can’t go next to it. I would say Libra, or something that has a more stable value, has got more potential.”

Expanding on his preference for gold over bitcoin, Dalio noted that central bankers will do all the buying, and what they’ll hold won’t be bitcoin:

“What are they going to hold as reserves? What has been tried and true? Are they going to hold digital currencies – Bitcoin? They’re going to hold gold. That is a reserve currency. And it’s been a reserve currency for a thousand years.”

However, he emphasized that his stance is gold is merely from a diversification standpoint, going on to say that “cash is trash” and that investors should aim for a more global, diversified portfolio this year.

Photo: Web Summit