Ray Dalio says if bitcoin is really successful, regulators will ‘kill’ it

Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, believes regulators will eventually take control of bitcoin if the cryptocurrency achieves general success.

“I think at the end of the day if it really succeeds, they’ll kill him and they’ll try to kill him. And I think they’ll kill him because they have ways of killing him,” Dalio told Andrew. Ross Sorkin Wednesday on CNBC. “Squawk Box” at the SALT conference in New York.

U.S. regulators have stepped up their scrutiny of the volatile cryptocurrency space as wild rides in speculative markets continued to garner attention. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said on Tuesday that Wall Street’s top regulator was working overtime to create a set of rules to protect investors through better regulation of thousands of new digital assets and coins .

Despite strong periods of volatility, bitcoin has seen some success in recent times. The crypto has more than quadrupled in the past 12 months and was around $ 47,500 on Wednesday. It peaked over $ 60,000 earlier this year.

“You have El Salvador doing it and you have India and China getting rid of it. And you have the US discussing how to regulate it and it could still be controlled,” said Dalio.

In June, El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Meanwhile, India is expected to come up with a law banning cryptocurrencies and penalizing minors and traders. China has started cracking down on crypto markets, ordering miners to shut down their operations.

Dalio said bitcoin has no intrinsic value, which means the asset lacks fundamental and objective value.

“There is so much from a historical perspective that had no intrinsic value and that had perceived value. And then it got hot and it got cold. Tulips in Holland,” said Dalio.

Still, the billionaire investor said bitcoin was a good alternative to cash and had a lower percentage of the digital token compared to his exposure to gold in the wallet.

“I think it’s worth considering all the alternatives to cash and all the alternatives to other financial assets. Bitcoin is a possibility. I have a certain amount of money in bitcoin,” said Dalio. “It is an incredible accomplishment to have brought it from where this programming happened to where it has stood the test of time.”