Ray Dalio roots for cryptocurrency to diversify investment portfolio

Ray Dalio, Founder, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer, Bridgewater Associates [REUTERS/Ruben Sprich - LR1ED1I0P481R]

Billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio opines that cryptocurrency can be a part of investment portfolios in an environment where the value of the dollar is depreciating in real terms.

According to a Blockworks report, Dalio said during an interview with Yahoo Finance that he owns bitcoin and ethereum. He did not specify the how much worth of crypto he owns.

“I think it’s very impressive that for the last 10 or 11 years that programming has still held up. It hasn’t been hacked … and it has an adoption rate,” the report said quoting Dalio.

The founder of hedge fund manager Bridgewater Associates — and the firm’s CIO since 1985 — during the interview with Yahoo Finance encouraged diversification, adding that crypto is “a relatively small part of the portfolio.” He believes cash the worst investment, due to its loss of buying power.

Dalio also advised investors not to analyse the return on their investments in nominal terms and view it in inflation-adjusted terms. Inflation eats into your cash silently.

Reportedly, these are not Dalio’s first comments on cryptocurrency.
Earlier in September, the billionaire investor told CNBC that regulators would try to “kill it” if crypto becomes successful.

In India, the Union government has never shown a favourable stance  for cryptos.

According to a PTI report, the Indian government is unlikely to bring a bill on cryptocurrency in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. Whenever a bill will be brought, it will be referred to the parliamentary standing committee for wider deliberations with stakeholders, it added.

The bill, which was listed in the government's legislative business of the winter session, seeks to "create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India". It also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India. However, it "allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses", according to the bill listed for introduction on the Lok Sabha website.

Currently, there is no regulation or any ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country.

Also Read: How to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in India?

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das too had earlier this month had reiterated his views against allowing cryptocurrencies, saying they are a serious threat to any financial system since they are unregulated by central banks.