“I think at the end of the day if it’s really successful, they will kill it and they will try to kill it. And I think they will kill it because they have ways of killing it,”

Dalio said.

Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund said he has some money invested in Bitcoin, but it’s a small percentage of his investment in gold, which in turn is a small percentage of his other assets. 

Bitcoin, the largest digital currency, has jumped more than 60% this year, but has come under increased scrutiny from regulators concerned about how retail investors are engaged with cryptocurrencies.

“There are so many things in a historical perspective that didn’t have intrinsic value and had perceived value. And then it went hot and it became cold. It could be either way. You just have to know what it is. It could be tulips in Holland,”

said Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio said:

“If you put a gun to my head, and you said, ‘I can only have one,’” says Dalio. “I would choose gold.”

 An American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager said,

“I have some bitcoin”

Dalio, who turns 72, revealed in May 2021 that he owns an undisclosed amount of bitcoin, after previously raising concerns about cryptocurrencies for years. Still, he isn’t completely sold on the concept.

He said the U.S. dollar is on the verge of devaluation on a level last seen in 1971 and that China is threatening the greenback’s role as the world’s reserve currency. In such an environment bitcoin, with its gold-like properties, looks increasingly attractive as a savings vehicle, said Dalio, whose firm started 2021 with $101.9 billion in assets under management, making it the world’s largest hedge fund. 

“Personally, I’d rather have bitcoin than a bond”

in an inflationary scenario, Dalio said during an hour-long conversation with CoinDesk Chief Content Officer Michael J. Casey.

“I own a very small amount of bitcoin. I’m not a big owner,”

Dalio now tells CNBC Make It. 

“There are certain assets that you want to own to diversify the portfolio, and bitcoin is something like a digital gold.”

For Ray Dalio, bitcoin is like a digital version of gold — but the billionaire clearly values one higher than the other.

With one currency (the dollar) possibly on the wane while another (the renminbi) possibly ascendant, there is the chance a neutral cryptocurrency such as bitcoin could act as gold did in previous centuries. 

One indicator, Dalio said, is the relative value of bitcoin versus gold. Excluding government reserves and jewelry uses, the value of gold is roughly $5 trillion, he estimated, about five times that of bitcoin.

“It’s about 80/20 right now in the world, so that’s something I’d watch, too. But I think those things probably are going to rise relative to bonds.”