Ray Dalio says, ‘I’d rather have bitcoin than a bond’, reveals he holds cryptocurrency

File photo of Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, a New York-headquartered hedge fund managing over $140 billion in global investments.

American billionaire and world's top fund manager Ray Dalio backed Bitcoin over the dollar, which he said was on the verge of devaluing on a level last seen in 1971.

Dalio, the co-chief investment officer of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, told Coindesk in an interview that he'd rather have bitcoins than a bond in an inflationary scenario.

"The more we create savings in (bitcoin), the more you might say, ‘I’d rather have bitcoin than the bond.’ Personally, I’d rather have bitcoin than a bond. And then the more that happens, then it goes into bitcoin and it doesn’t go into credit, then (governments) lose control of that.”

According to Dalio, China is now threatening the dollar's status as a global currency, which makes Bitcoin an attractive option as a savings vehicle.

He further revealed that he holds "some" Bitcoin without mentioning the quantity or the value held in the cryptocurrency

"Bitcoin’s greatest risk is its success," he said. "One of the great things, I think, as a worry is the government having the capacity to control ... bitcoin, or the digital currencies. They know where they are, and they know what’s going on.

Dalio earlier expressed scepticism in the cryptocurrency. "I don’t think digital currencies will succeed in the way people hope they would,” Dalio had said in November 2020.

However, Dalio's change in heart was seen as early as January 2021 when he noted that "Bitcoin and its competitors can fill that growing need” for an alternative store of value.