Ray Dalio says Bitcoin blocks central banks

Ray Dalio said Bitcoin lacks privacy and its transparency is why central banks will not hold it.

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio posted on X on May 11 that Bitcoin’s public ledger is the core reason central banks are unlikely to adopt it as a reserve asset. “Bitcoin lacks privacy,” Dalio said. “Transactions can be monitored and potentially controlled, which is why central banks aren’t looking to hold it.”

Dalio, who allocates roughly 1% of his own portfolio to bitcoin, framed the post as an extension of comments he first made on the All-In Podcast in March. He identified three structural weaknesses: lack of privacy, high correlation with technology stocks, and a market size still far smaller than gold’s.

Why Dalio favours gold over bitcoin

“Ultimately, gold is more widely held, deeply established, and still plays a central role in the global system,” Dalio wrote. He pointed to Bitcoin’s tendency to trade in line with Nasdaq-listed tech stocks, arguing that this reduces its appeal as an independent hedge when investors face pressure elsewhere in their portfolios.

Dalio’s comments arrived as Bitcoin’s correlation with the Nasdaq Composite climbed from 0.16 to 0.85 since the Iran war began, per data from TradingView. He also raised the possibility of future quantum computing threats to Bitcoin’s cryptographic security, a concern security experts say affects the entire financial system rather than Bitcoin alone.

The broader debate around Bitcoin and central bank reserves has intensified since the US government formally established a strategic Bitcoin reserve in 2025 and several other sovereign wealth vehicles began accumulating BTC, though at volumes still small compared with gold holdings globally.

Saylor and Bitwise push back

Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor responded directly, calling Bitcoin’s transparency a feature rather than a flaw. “It is precisely what makes Bitcoin usable as global collateral,” he said, arguing that a verifiable, auditable asset that any party can confirm without trusting a third party is structurally superior for institutional use.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan offered a more nuanced counter, conceding that Dalio’s concerns are real but arguing they represent an investment opportunity rather than a permanent barrier. “These criticisms are quite literally the opportunity,” Hougan said. “If these critiques did not exist, bitcoin would already be at $1 million a coin.”