Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of the US-based investment management firm Bridgewater Associates, has revealed that he owns 'some Bitcoins' and he would rather go for Bitcoin than a bond. This comes two months after the billionaire expressed concerns about its future.

“I have some Bitcoin,” he said in an interview at Coindesk Consensus 2021 event, but he did not reveal the amount. He stressed that bitcoin's risk is its success.

This comes as cryptocurrencies crashed and burned last week, spurred by China's decision to ban cryptocurrency business and several other regulators tightening their leash. The value of Bitcoin recorded a 50 percent drop from its early-April high.

In a volatile investment environment, cryptocurrency can act as the best store of value, Dalio had said.

Dalio is bearish on bonds, as he believes the economics of investing in bonds "has become stupid" (bonds pay less than inflation, he says). Regardless of his view, Bridgewater Associates invests a large portion of their capital in the US treasuries and other bonds.

In the blog post titled "What I think of Bitcoin," he added, “I suspect that Bitcoin’s biggest risk is being successful because if it’s successful, the government will try to kill it and they have a lot of power to succeed.”

“There exists the possibility that bitcoin and its competitors can fill that growing need” for an alternative store of value, he wrote in January.

However, Dalio pointed out that there is some risk involved with investing in cryptocurrencies. "One of the great things, I think, as a worry is a government has the capacity to control ... Bitcoin, or the digital currencies. They know where they are, and they know what’s going on,” he said.

He added that cryptocurrencies are likely to face an existential threat from regulators and central banks.

According to Dalio, the US government might ban Bitcoins if cryptocurrency becomes a competitive threat to Treasury bonds.

His comments on Monday added support to a rebounding cryptocurrency market as Bitcoin zoomed nearly 19 percent, erasing the weekend shock.

First Published:May 25, 2021 3:29 PM IST