Dario "Heavy on cash" : Bitcoin is not a reserve asset, recommend allocating 5%-15% "second reserve currency" in gold

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio recently gave a cautious assessment of Bitcoin's role in the global financial system during an interview. He acknowledged that Bitcoin is a form of currency for some investors, but pointed out that its scale is far smaller than traditional reserve assets like gold. Dalio recommended investors allocate 5% to 15% of their funds to gold in a diversified investment strategy. He said, "If you do not have a view on the market, then you should hold this much gold." He also added that central banks should hold a higher proportion of gold than they currently do. Dalio revealed that his own strategy is to reduce bond allocations, increase gold allocations, and maintain a "higher-than-normal level" of gold holdings. During an interview at Davos, Dalio said, "We can roughly judge the scale of a currency by the scale of Bitcoin. For some people, it is a currency. But its scale is not large. It will not be held by central banks, etc." Dalio's comments come at a time when there is a widespread discussion in the market about the shift in currency and wealth storage methods. He emphasized that as major central banks and sovereign wealth funds gradually reduce their dependency on dollar-denominated debt, they are increasingly turning to gold rather than digital currency. Dalio pointed out that the question of "what is money" has become a hot topic, with the focus of debate on whether money is Bitcoin, digital currency, or traditional stores of value. While Dalio did not completely deny Bitcoin, his investment portfolio advice focuses on other assets. He said that personally, he has always "leaned towards gold" rather than cryptocurrency. This legendary investor placed the discussion within the context of what he described as the collapse of the monetary order, where he believes that fiat currencies and debt as a means of storing wealth are losing their appeal among global central banks. In this environment, Dalio sees hard assets such as gold as the preferred safe-haven investment for institutional investors, positioning Bitcoin as a smaller-scale, more speculative alternative. Dalio claims that the global monetary order is crumbling, noting that people are fundamentally changing their views on fiat currencies and debt as reliable wealth storage methods. Dalio said, "The monetary order is collapsing. By monetary order, I mean that fiat currencies and debt as a means of storing wealth are not being held by major central banks as they used to." Dalio pointed to gold's outstanding performance as the main evidence of this shift, noting that the precious metal outperformed even tech stocks last year. He explained, "The most volatile market last year was the gold market, far outperforming the tech market." Major central banks and sovereign wealth funds around the world are increasingly buying gold as a diversification tool, not as a speculative metal, but as Dalio describes it, as the "second largest reserve currency." The billionaire investor emphasized that parties holding USD debt and the US government itself are increasingly wary of each other, creating a dangerous situation. While Dalio acknowledged the significant rise in gold prices, he still sees a bright future for gold. "If I observe the rise in gold prices and analyze the positions of institutions that should hold gold positions, they are still shorting gold," he explained. He also expressed optimism about technological innovation, stating that he hopes to allocate part of his portfolio to "new technologies that can bring about massive disruptions," while continuing to hold gold as an important diversification tool.