Stock manager Ray Dalio confirmed that he holds ether along with bitcoin. For many years, the billionaire criticized bitcoin and called it a "bubble", but changed his attitude this year.
"I won't name the exact amount, but I also hold Ethereum. Not very much," Dalio said in a conversation with Yahoo Finance.
At the same time, he noted that he is a big supporter of diversification, and cryptocurrencies make up a "relatively small part" of his portfolio.
"I consider them as an alternative for money in conditions when the value of traditional currencies is declining in real terms. Of course, it is very impressive that these programmable currencies have lasted the last 10-11 years. They have not been hacked, they have a level of distribution," Dalio continued.
In the past, the billionaire called traditional money "garbage" and confirmed his point of view in a recent interview. According to him, the depreciation of traditional currencies as a result of accelerated issuance makes bitcoin more attractive from the standpoint of protecting capital from inflation.
"Most investors consider traditional money to be the safest investment. I consider them the worst investment—" he added. – Do not judge the profitability of your assets in nominal terms – how many dollars you have. Make adjustments for dollar inflation. Accordingly, this year you have lost 4-5% due to inflation. Traditional money will become a distressed asset. Keep a diversified portfolio, and it should be diversified not only by asset classes, but also by countries. Only in this case will your portfolio be really well diversified."
Earlier, Dalio said that, despite his investments in bitcoin, he still prefers gold out of the two assets.