Bridgewater Associates co-founder and chief investment officer Ray Dalio says there is a good chance that the government will criminalize bitcoin in the same way that gold was banned in the United States in the 1930s.
Ray Dalio thinks governments can ban Bitcoin
Ray Dalio shared his opinion on whether the government could ban bitcoin in an interview with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday. He is the co-founder and chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund company in the world. Its clients include donations, governments, foundations, pensions and sovereign wealth funds.
Dalio believes that bitcoin could suffer a fate similar to that of gold in the United States during the 1930s. “As in the 1930s, in the war years … money and bonds were such bad investments in relation to other things, there was the movement for these other things yet, and then the government banned them … They banned gold, “he recalled, elaborating:
That’s why banning bitcoin is also a good chance.
In addition to banning gold, Dalio added that “they have also established exchange controls, because they do not want the money to go elsewhere”.
Emphasizing that “every country values its monopoly on supply and demand control. They don’t want other money to be operating or competing, because things can get out of hand, ”said the founder of Bridgewater:
So, I think it would be very likely that, under a certain set of circumstances, you would make it illegal in the same way that gold was banned.
“You are watching this issue arise in India today. India today is making a move to ban it – to ban possession of it, ”he said. The Indian government is currently working on a cryptocurrency bill and there are reports that it can ban cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. However, no official announcement has been made and the crypto industry is hopeful that there will be no total ban on cryptocurrencies.
Dalio was also specifically asked whether he thinks it is possible for the government to ban bitcoin. He replied: “My understanding of the people who are under government surveillance and so on, is, yes, they can understand, they can track, they can know who is dealing with it. I don’t know – like, I’m not an expert on that. “
The billionaire hedge fund manager has been learning about bitcoin in recent months. He admitted in November that he may be wrong about bitcoin, but was concerned that governments were banning cryptocurrency. He then said that bitcoin “is quite an invention” that it could “serve as a diversifier for gold and other deposits of wealth assets”.
Responding to Dalio’s ill-informed prospects, bitcoiners turned to social media to discuss the government’s ability to ban bitcoin. Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss wrote: “Bitcoin may have properties similar to gold, but banning decentralized software is a very different problem. It essentially requires you to ban the Internet. “
Some people accuse the Bridgewater executive of trying to manipulate the market to buy cheap currencies, noting that an increasing number of large corporations are investing in BTC. Recently, Goldman Sachs said it sees huge institutional demand for cryptocurrency and Visa predicts that bitcoin will become “extremely popular”. Deutsche Bank says bitcoin is now the third largest currency, after the dollar and the euro. In addition, Morgan Stanley is gearing up to offer bitcoin exposure to wealthy customers and other banks are expected to follow suit.
Do you think about Ray Dalio’s bitcoin warning? Let us know in the comments section below.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer of Liability: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damages or losses caused or allegedly caused by or in connection with the use or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.