An executive at Bridgewater, the world's largest hedge fund, unpacks bitcoin's role in the macro picture

Bridgewater, the world's largest hedge fund, isn't convinced by the bitcoin narrative yet, but it's listening.

On this week's episode of The Scoop, Bridgewater's director of portfolio strategy Jim Haskel said he's not surprised by the growing institutional interest.

Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio previously said he didn't see bitcoin's merits as a currency, but he amended his statements in a newsletter published earlier this year. 

"I believe Bitcoin is one hell of an invention," Dalio wrote at the time.

Haskel said Bridgewater remains skeptical but also recognizes bitcoin's "fantastic" attributes. Though the cryptocurrency's price remains volatile and lacks some of the characteristics of traditional wealth from Bridgewater's point of view, Haskel says he sees potential.

"What I would say is that we certainly have not rejected it as a potential store hold of wealth," Haskel remarked. "We just wouldn’t use it in big size yet."

On this week's episode, Haskell talked about Bridgewater's unfolding bitcoin strategy as well as:

• If it's still possible for funds to have access to unsustainable levels of leverage
• Whether the inflation alarmists are justified
• What the impact of continued recovery will be on assets and how that affects alternative allocations
• How Bridgewater started considering bitcoin as an inflation hedge.

This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Bakkt and Kraken.

Bakkt® unlocks the $1.2+ trillion of digital assets that is currently held in cryptocurrencies, rewards and loyalty points, gaming assets and merchant stored value. We began in 2018 with the vision to bring trust and transparency to digital assets. Through the Bakkt Warehouse and Bakkt Bitcoin Futures and Options contracts, we serve institutional clients in an end-to-end regulated market with true price transparency. For consumers, Bakkt aggregates digital assets to enable instant liquidity and to empower users to trade, transfer and pay however they want. Visit Bakkt.com for more information

Whether you’re an experienced crypto trader or just starting out, Kraken has the tools to help you achieve financial freedom. With 50+ cryptocurrencies to choose from, industry-leading security and a wide variety of features to suit any investing strategy, Kraken puts the power in your hands to buy, sell and trade digital assets. Visit Kraken.com to get started today.