The founder of the worldâs largest hedge fund believes thereâs a bubble in the bitcoin market.
Ray Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates, which according to recent rankings is the biggest hedge fund by total assets under management. Per its website, Bridgewater manages around $160 billion in assets.
Dalio, who appeared on CNBCâs Squawk Box this morning, said that he doesnât think bitcoin is âan effective storehold of wealthâ, comparing it unfavorably to gold.
He said in the interview:
âItâs not an effective storehold of wealth because it has volatility to it, unlike gold. Bitcoin is a highly speculative market. Bitcoin is a bubble.â
While he noted that bitcoin âcould be a currency,â Dalio argued that a mix of market speculation and the lack of broader adoption is getting in the way
âItâs a shame, it could be a currency. It could work, conceptually, but the amount of speculation that is going on and the lack of transactions [prevent it],â he said.
Dalio went on to add that the privacy aspects of bitcoin make it difficult to accept as a currency as well, asserting âpeople wonât know what youâre doing.â
His comments come as cryptocurrency markets recover from regulatory developments in China, which have seen officials there increasing their scrutiny in the exchange space, trigging a raft of closures and policy changes. At press time, the price of bitcoin is trading at roughly $3,984, per CoinDeskâs Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).
Image Credit:Â Valeriano DiDomenico/World Economic Forum