Ray Dalio, known as the founder of the world's largest hedge fund, has raised strong concerns about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). He points out that CBDCs, promoted in the name of financial innovation, could weaken individual financial privacy and even be used as a tool of control for political purposes.
Dalio acknowledged the advantages of CBDCs, including increased payment efficiency and policy enforcement. However, he emphasized that if all transaction records are centralized in a centralized system, individual spending and asset movements will inevitably be tracked constantly. While the level of anonymity can be adjusted based on technical design, he believes it's fundamentally difficult to overcome the limitations of centralized data control.
Bridgewater Associates, which he founded, is a leading investment firm that analyzes global macroeconomic trends. The fact that such a figure has publicly addressed the risks of changing the monetary system is significant. CBDCs go beyond mere payment methods and could become a mechanism for institutionalizing a structure that gives state power direct access to financial data.
Indeed, central banks around the world are accelerating research on CBDCs for reasons such as expanding financial inclusion, preventing money laundering, and ensuring tax transparency. Europe is designing a digital euro, and China is piloting the digital yuan. Policy discussions are also ongoing in the United States regarding whether to adopt one.
The key issue is the balance between "efficiency" and "freedom." CBDCs enhance the precision of monetary policy and enable rapid fiscal execution in times of crisis. However, the structure in which all transaction flows are recorded in the central bank's system could undermine citizens' financial autonomy. If it becomes technologically easy to freeze or restrict the accounts of specific individuals or organizations, it is difficult to rule out the possibility that this could extend beyond the financial infrastructure and become a means of social control.
At this point, the proliferation of stablecoins and real asset tokenization (RWA) presents another alternative. As centralized CBDCs become more robust, the market is likely to shift toward relatively privately-led digital assets, such as gold-backed tokens or dollar-pegged stablecoins. While the digitalization of currency is an inevitable trend, the degree of concentration of power can vary significantly depending on how it is designed.
Dalio's remarks highlight that technological innovation does not necessarily mean greater freedom. The core competitiveness of the digital currency era lies not only in speed and convenience, but also in institutionally guaranteeing privacy and trust. The CBDC debate is now expanding beyond technological issues to encompass issues of democracy and financial sovereignty.
