Ray Dalio warned on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the global monetary order is breaking down, citing shifts in how central banks treat fiat and debt, and linking the risk to recent geopolitical tensions, said. He gave the remarks while responding to U.S. policy moves and market reactions in Switzerland.
Dalio said both fiat holders and those who need fiat worry about each other, creating future risk (Ed. note: he warned this dynamic could spark capital frictions). He stated that “Fiat currencies and debt as a storehold of wealth, is not being held by central banks in the same way, and … there was a change.”
He also highlighted market signals, noting that precious metals led gains last year. Dalio observed that “The biggest market to move last year was the gold market, far better than the tech markets and so on.”
The comments came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on European countries following disputes over his Greenland remarks, an episode that drew diplomatic pushback and headlines, according to reporting that covered the threats mentioned.
Dalio had previously said in December that Trump’s economic agenda could be weakened in the 2026 midterms and potentially reversed in 2028 if Democrats regain power. His observations were shared alongside a public social post, linked to his account on X.
Many crypto executives, including Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, also attended WEF events to discuss tokenization and market-structure talks, while U.S. legislation on digital assets awaited further action.
