Dalio urges gold, Bitcoin investment as U.S. debt tops $40 trillion

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio warned that the United States has reached a critical inflection point in its debt trajectory, urging investors to reduce holdings in traditional bonds and instead allocate 10 to 15 percent of their portfolios to gold and a smaller portion to Bitcoin as a hedge. The founder of Bridgewater Associates issued the advice in a LinkedIn post published Friday, August 21, 2026, as U.S. national debt surpassed $40 trillion earlier in the week. The stark warning coincided with a volatile period for financial markets, highlighted by the Treasury Department's announcement on August 19, 2026, that it would double the maximum size of its liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated government bonds. According to the department, the purchases would rise from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation for securities in the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year maturity sectors, effective from September 9 through November 4. Dalio framed these moves as part of a larger pattern signaling potential trouble ahead. "I am confident that the government's financial condition is at an inflection point," he wrote.