Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio Softens Stance on Bitcoin, Says It Has Place in Investors’ Portfolios

Ray Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, has offered a more positive stance on bitcoin than in comments that made headlines last month.

In a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Tuesday, Dalio said he thought bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies had “established themselves” over the last 10 years and were interesting “gold-like asset alternatives.”

The billionaire hedge-fund manager also noted that cryptocurrencies share similarities and differences to gold and various “limited-supply, mobile (unlike real estate) storeholds of wealth.”

Bitcoin “could serve as a diversifier to gold and other such storehold of wealth assets,” said Dalio. “The main thing is to have some of these type of assets … including stocks, in one’s portfolio and to diversify among them.”

Dalio comments are a deviation from a month ago when he said there are three main problems with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies: a lack of venues accepting digital assets as payment, price volatility and the potential for governments to “outlaw” them.

During the AMA, Dalio also said, when comparing bitcoin to gold, he had a “strong preference” for assets which central banks will want to hold and use to exchange value.