Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, said bitcoin’s success would be crushed by financial regulators, particularly in the United States (US).
“I think in the end if it (bitcoin) really works, they (regulators) will kill him and will keep trying to kill him. Because they have a way to kill him,” Dalio told CNBC International, as quoted (16/9/2021) .
As is known, US regulators have increased their oversight of cryptocurrency movements which are considered quite wild, speculative, and continue to attract attention.
The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Oversight Commission in the US, Gary Gensler, said the company is continuing to work overtime to create a set of rules protecting investors from investing in thousands of digital assets and coins.
Despite its wild moves, bitcoin is considered quite successful. The cryptocurrency has quadrupled in value in the last 12 months, and was around $47,500/coin on Wednesday. The value of bitcoin has also hit a high point above US $ 60,000 earlier this year.
“You have El Salvador embracing it, and you have India and China getting rid of it. Then you have the US talking about how to regulate it and it can still be controlled,” Dalio said.
As is known, in June, El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender. While India is expected to propose a law banning cryptocurrencies, and punishing miners and traders. Then China has started cracking down on the cryptocurrency market, ordering miners to shut down their operations.
Bitcoin Has No Intrinsic Value
Dalio said bitcoin has no intrinsic value, meaning the asset has no fundamental and objective value.
“There are so many things in historical perspective that have no intrinsic value and have perceptual value. And then it gets hot and it gets cold. It could be. You just need to know what it is. It could be tulips in Holland,” Dalio said.
However, the billionaire investor says bitcoin is a good alternative to cash, and he has a smaller percentage of digital tokens compared to his gold exposure in his portfolio.
“I think it’s worth considering all alternatives to cash and all alternatives to other financial assets. Bitcoin is a possibility. I have some money in bitcoins,” Dalio said.
