Billionaire investor Ray Dalio said he holds roughly 1% of his portfolio in Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), viewing it as a form of money that cannot be printed.
However, he continues to prefer gold as a long-term store of value.
"I have 1% Of Portfolio In BTC"
In a “Diary of a CEO” interview on July 30, Dalio described Bitcoin as one of several forms of "hard money" that investors can use to protect themselves against the depreciation of government-issued currencies.
"I have about 1% of my portfolio in Bitcoin because there’s different kinds of money, and the money that you can’t print, that’s one kind," Dalio said.
However, the Bridgewater Associates founder said he favors physical gold over Bitcoin when allocating the portion of a portfolio intended to preserve purchasing power.
Dalio suggested investors generally consider holding between 5% and 15% of their portfolios in hard-money assets, depending on their circumstances.
"In my category of wanting to make sure that I have some hard money, which for most people should be between 5% and 15% of their portfolio, I prefer the gold bars rather than the Bitcoin," he said.
Why Dalio Prefers Gold
Dalio said gold has several characteristics that make it more attractive than Bitcoin during periods of geopolitical or monetary instability.
Gold cannot be created through monetary policy, can be held directly and is not another party’s liability, he explained.
Bitcoin shares some of those characteristics, but Dalio believes the cryptocurrency faces technological, regulatory and privacy-related risks.
"It’s a type of money that can’t be printed, but there are technologies that can hurt it," he said.
Dalio highlighted quantum computing as a potential long-term threat and argued that Bitcoin transactions can be monitored, taxed or restricted by governments.
"When the governments say, ‘I don’t want it,’ they have the power therefore to do whatever they want with it," he said.
Central Banks Unlikely To Embrace Bitcoin
Dalio argued that governments and central banks generally want financial transactions to remain private and under their control, making Bitcoin less appealing as a reserve asset.
"Central banks will not own any significant amount of that," Dalio said.
By contrast, he pointed to gold’s resilience during geopolitical conflicts, noting that physical holdings can remain outside the reach of foreign governments and financial sanctions.
Dalio said recent conflicts have reinforced the perception that investors and countries need assets that cannot easily be confiscated or controlled by another party.
Image: Shutterstock
