Ray Dalio Recommends Bitcoin and Gold as Hedge Against Looming US Debt Crisis

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio urged investors to allocate a portion of their portfolios to gold and Bitcoin, warning that a US debt crisis could materialize within five years if current fiscal policies remain unchanged. In a LinkedIn post on Friday, Dalio recommended holding between 10% and 15% of a portfolio in gold while overweighting Bitcoin relative to traditional debt assets like bonds, citing risks from internal political and external geopolitical conflicts.

Dalio, whose estimated net worth exceeds $15 billion, has shifted his stance on Bitcoin over time. In 2022, he suggested that a 1% to 2% Bitcoin allocation was "reasonable," and in July 2025 he confirmed he held "some, but not much" BTC. His latest comments reinforce a growing belief among institutional investors that Bitcoin functions as a store of value amid macroeconomic uncertainty, even as Dalio has previously raised concerns about privacy and quantum computing threats to the cryptocurrency.

"My guess is that [a US debt crisis] will come in three years, give or take two, if the course we're on is not changed," Dalio wrote. The hedge fund founder's endorsement comes as Bitcoin continues to gain traction among Wall Street figures who view it as a hedge against fiat currency devaluation and sovereign debt risks, further legitimizing digital assets in mainstream portfolio strategy.