(Yahoo!Finance) - Inflation has been a massive issue for nearly every major country for the past year or so.
Consumers and corporations alike have felt the pain, with the previous four quarters of earnings proving to be relatively lackluster. While inflation is slowly declining, it has caused the debt of the U.S. and other countries to soar.
Between strong inflation and the massive debt burden, the founder of the world's largest hedge fund is sounding the alarm. Bridgewater Associates Founder Ray Dalio has grown his investing empire into one of the largest hedge funds in the world.
In an interview with CNBC, Dalio said, “Money as we know it is in jeopardy [because] we are printing too much, and it's not just the United States."
Dalio ruled out Bitcoin (BTC/USD) as a solution because he says it's proved to be too volatile, doesn’t relate to anything, and many industries are more interesting than crypto.
While Bitcoin isn’t the answer, a digital currency could be. “I think that what would ... be best is an inflation-linked coin,” said Dalio, noting that the closest thing on the market to his vision is an inflation-linked index bond but in the form of a currency.
Sentiment around crypto and other digital currencies has been mixed lately ecause of the recent collapses of FTX, Celsius Network LLC, BlockFi and several others. But the regional banks collapsing has led to mixed sentiment as the overall financial system sees instability. Bitcoin is up as much as 26% in the past month.
Other blockchain-based assets have seen similar recoveries. Gamestop’s NFT marketplace has seen massive volume spikes for certain projects recently. And Gameflip is raising on StartEngine and nearing $1 million raised from retail investors.
The broader stock market also provides options. Bridgewater’s two largest holdings are Proctor & Gamble Co. and Johnson & Johnson, which account for about 8% of its total portfolio. Dalio noted that he sees biotech and other industries as “more interesting than Bitcoin.”
By Caleb Naysmith
