Ruben Sprich / Reuters
Ray Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, raised concerns that the United States government might ban bitcoin if it became very successful.
Dalio told Yahoo Finance that the money story suggests that policymakers want to step in alternative currencies that could challenge the dollar’s dominance.
“I think it would be very likely that, in a given set of circumstances, you would make it illegal in the same way that gold was banned,” he said, referring to the government’s initiative to prohibit people from privately owning gold in the 1930s.
Dalio told Yahoo’s online “Influencers with Andy Serwer” interview series that bitcoin has “proven itself” in the past decade and is now like “digital money”.
The founder of the $ 150 billion hedge fund Bridgewater Associates said this success could be a danger to governments. “They don’t want other resources to be operating or competing because things can get out of hand.”
Dalio said that current debates among Indian lawmakers over the total banning of bitcoin may herald an increasing trend. He added: “I would suspect that it would be very difficult to resist such action.”
However, there has been no indication from U.S. regulators that they are seeking to completely ban bitcoin, which shot up about 650% last year to $ 51,000 on Thursday.
Many investors argue that bitcoin should not be seen as a currency, but rather as a speculative asset.
Some influential figures, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, suggested that regulations should be stricter, due to concerns that cryptocurrencies are used to finance the drug trade and terrorism.
Dalio spoke warmly about bitcoin, saying it has “proven itself” in the past decade. “It was not hacked. It is, in general, therefore, it worked on an operational basis. It has built a significant sequence. It is an alternative, in a sense, a storehouse of wealth.”