Ray Dalio: Bitcoin Falls Short of Gold as Safe Haven

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, argued in a May 11 post on X that Bitcoin falls short as a safe-haven asset compared to gold, citing its lack of privacy and tendency to sell off during market stress.

Dalio, who has disclosed holding about 1 percent of his portfolio in Bitcoin, wrote that the cryptocurrency receives enormous global attention but has not protected wealth reliably during financial uncertainty. He highlighted three main shortcomings. First, Bitcoin's public blockchain allows transactions to be monitored and potentially controlled, reducing its appeal for central banks as a reserve asset. Although wallet addresses are pseudonymous, blockchain analytics firms and authorities can often trace activity to individuals or institutions.

Second, Dalio noted Bitcoin's high correlation with technology stocks. Data from TradingView showed a 90-day correlation coefficient of 0.89 between Bitcoin and the Nasdaq index, with an R-squared value of 0.79, meaning nearly 80 percent of Bitcoin's recent price movements aligned with the tech-heavy benchmark. Investors tend to sell Bitcoin alongside risk assets when liquidity tightens elsewhere in portfolios, behavior that...