Billionaire Ray Dalio ‘impressed’ how Bitcoin survived the last decade

Hedge fund manager and former Bitcoin critic Ray Dalio is ending the year with a positive stance on cryptocurrencies.

Billionaire Ray Dalio gave another positive sentiment, saying he is impressed with crypto while classifying cash as “the worst investment.” 

In an interview with Yahoo! Finance, on December 17, the Bridgewater Associates founder stated that he thinks it’s “impressive” that crypto lasted without being hacked in the last decade.

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

He also mentioned that he owned some Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), but when asked how much he owns, Dalio responded by saying that he doesn’t hold a lot of it: “I’m very big on diversification, and it’s a very small part of the portfolio.”

Back in 2020, Ray Dalio’s criticisms of volatility and lack of buyer protection for crypto have been the cause of alarm for many holders. He mentioned that Bitcoin is “not very good as a store-hold of wealth.” However, at the beginning of 2021, the billionaire did a 180 on Bitcoin, calling the asset “one hell of an invention.”

In an essay that Dalio published back in January 2021, he clarified that both crypto advocates and antagonists are looking at the same thing from different angles. He said that he understands that Bitcoin has its pros and cons.

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The billionaire fund manager proceeded to point out that he views crypto “as an alternative money in an environment where the value of cash money is depreciating in real terms.” He added that he still thinks that “cash is trash” as he said in previous interviews.

“Cash, which most investors think is the safest investment is, I think, the worst investment.”

The billionaire’s answers show more positivity compared to his previous statements that the United States may ban Bitcoin and that he would choose gold over bitcoin back in August which was dubbed by the community as FUD.

On March 25, Dalio stated that it’s likely that Bitcoin may be outlawed the way gold was outlawed under some set of circumstances. He cited the gold ban in the 1930s as an example saying that this may also happen to Bitcoin. During those times, the government didn’t want gold to compete with fiat because things may go “out of control,” Dalio said.