Ray Dalio Questions Bitcoin's Monetary Foundation: Why Gold Is More Reliable

Renowned investor Ray Dalio recently reiterated his reservations about Bitcoin, emphasizing its fundamental differences from gold in terms of monetary attributes. In his view, a true currency must possess physical scarcity, not just records on a digital ledger. Dalio pointed out that modern fiat currencies are essentially debt instruments, their value dependent on the creditworthiness of central institutions. When debt inflates, central banks can dilute its purchasing power by issuing more currency – which is the core reason he rejects fiat currencies. In contrast, gold, due to its limited natural reserves, inability to be artificially produced, and widespread recognition across countries and cultures, has become the only store of value that has stood the test of time. He further analyzed that it is difficult for central banks to incorporate Bitcoin into their reserve asset system, with the key obstacle being its open and transparent blockchain ledger. In Dalio's eyes, this transparency is not an advantage but rather exposes the asset to market sentiment fluctuations, lacking the privacy and controllability required by institutions. Additionally, Dalio mentioned that Bitcoin is highly correlated with tech stocks, and its price is susceptible to investor position adjustments. When tech assets face selling pressure, Bitcoin is often forced to liquidate in sync, which weakens its credibility as an independent store of value. Notably, on the fifth day of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, the price of gold once fell by 3.07%, reporting at $5128.58 per ounce, showing the complexity of short-term market risk aversion sentiment. Bitcoin, during the same period, only slightly decreased by 0.7% to $68707.30, showing relative resilience. However, this did not change Dalio's long-term judgment: "A true currency should remain strong in systemic crises." He believes that gold has maintained its value through hundreds of years of wars, inflation, and currency collapses, while Bitcoin has not yet experienced a complete economic cycle test and cannot yet prove that it can maintain its core functions under multiple shocks.