Ray Dalio still holds about 1% of his portfolio in BTC despite structural limits

Billionaire investor and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Thursday that his crypto exposure sits at “a small percentage” and that it’s been that way for years.

“I’ve had it forever, like 1% of my portfolios,” Ray told the anchors during the morning broadcast. He made the remarks as Bitcoin traded under $88,000, continuing a week-long slump that’s rattled some leveraged longs.

According to CNBC, Ray made it clear that Bitcoin isn’t ready to compete as a reserve asset. He warned that it still faces serious long-term problems.

When asked whether it could eventually rival gold or the U.S. dollar, he shook his head. He said governments wouldn’t allow it to reach that point without intervening. “If it becomes really successful, they will kill it. And they have ways of killing it,” Ray said, repeating a line he first shared back in 2021.

But Ray also acknowledged that his outlook has shifted a bit. Between late 2021 and early 2022, as more institutions piled into Bitcoin, he started giving the asset some credit. During a conversation with Lex Fridman, he admitted, “Bitcoin has proven itself. It hasn’t been hacked, it’s stood the test of time.” That’s a big change from a guy who once warned crypto could collapse under regulatory pressure.

Ray tracks Bitcoin while warning of AI bubbles

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, said he may have influenced Ray’s change of heart. “I might have contributed a tiny bit in influencing him,” CZ said on X, pointing to past discussions.

And in 2023, CZ introduced Ray’s “Dot Collector,” a feedback tool used inside Bridgewater, into Binance’s operations. That crossover between hedge fund systems and crypto exchanges surprised some, but Ray didn’t comment further on the partnership.

Even with his cautious stance, Ray said he has no plans to dump Bitcoin. He called it one part of a broader, diversified portfolio, and said people should consider owning gold too.

Ray flagged gold’s all-time high this year as a sign of ongoing investor demand for safe-haven assets, especially with inflation lingering and interest rates holding steady.

On the tech front, Ray said artificial intelligence stocks are in bubble territory, but he isn’t telling people to sell just yet. “Don’t sell just because there’s a bubble,” he said.

But Ray also warned that when stocks trade at these kinds of levels, long-term returns usually suffer. “If you look at the correlations with the next 10 years’ returns, when you are in that territory, you get very low returns.”

He said the bubble hasn’t popped yet, but it could, just not because of rate hikes. He thinks higher wealth taxes might be what finally pulls the plug. “We don’t have the pricking of the bubble yet,” Ray said, pushing back on analysts who blame monetary policy.

Bridgewater leans into megacaps, unloads Alphabet

Despite his concern about overvalued tech stocks, Bridgewater remains exposed to major names. Ray boosted his fund’s holdings in the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF by 75% this past quarter.

The position now makes up 10.62% of the portfolio, worth $2.71 billion across 4.05 million shares. His second-largest holding is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, worth $1.71 billion.

Ray cut back his Alphabet investment by 52%, bringing it down to $645 million. His company also holds $568 million in Microsoft, and recently grew its stake in Salesforce by 22%, reaching $475 million.

Ray’s portfolio includes Nvidia, Lam Research, Adobe, and Booking Holdings—all closely linked to AI, cloud computing, or consumer data platforms.

For the third quarter, Bridgewater added 617,000 shares of Reddit, 807,000 shares of Robinhood, and expanded positions in Applied Materials and KLA, two key suppliers in the chip sector.

The company also nearly doubled its exposure to Sea Ltd, a Southeast Asian internet company that’s rebounding after last year’s slowdown.

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