In recent crypto news, Ray Dalio stated that the Federal Reserve’s move to end quantitative tightening on December 1 is an easing move “any way you cut it,” and this scenario might favor Bitcoin price.
The central bank pivoted to balance sheet reinvestments to maintain banking system reserves.
Chairman Jerome Powell called the move technical housekeeping. He said reserves would “start gradually growing to keep up with the banking system.”
However, Dalio flagged it as a key milestone in the Big Debt Cycle.
The Bridgewater founder noted the Fed was cutting rates while potentially expanding its balance sheet. Fiscal deficits remained large at over $1.8 trillion annually.
Additionally, credit spreads compressed to record tight, and AI stocks traded at bubble valuations based on his bubble indicator.
He contrasted this setup with prior quantitative easing programs. Those launched into crashes or economic weakness.
The current environment represented “stimulus into a bubble” rather than “stimulus into a depression.”
Debasement Trade Mechanics Apply to Bitcoin Price
Dalio’s framework centered on relative asset appeals under changing liquidity. The Fed suppressed real yields and added reserves. Capital rotated toward assets offering higher real returns or structural scarcity.
His analysis favored gold over bonds. Gold has historically tracked inflation, maintaining a fixed supply against expanding currency quantities.
Although Dalio did not mention Bitcoin (BTC), the BTC price has exhibited similar mechanics since 2020. Bitcoin operates with a 21 million supply cap, and now trades through regulated spot ETFs accessible to institutions.
Bitcoin price gained legitimacy during the last Fed easing cycle. The balance sheet expanded from $4 trillion to $9 trillion, which favored a Bitcoin run from $10,000 to $69,000 during that period.
JPMorgan’s October 1 research note labeled this the “debasement trade.” Flows moved into gold and Bitcoin as hedges, as investors try to protect their buying power.
The bank tied it to $1.8 trillion annual deficits and falling real yields, and saw Bitcoin price converging toward gold’s market capitalization.
Gold Price and Bitcoin Price Face Same Liquidity Impulse
Dalio compared bond yields to gold price performance directly. Ten-year Treasury yields stood near 4%, inflation ran above 3%, and real yields compressed to roughly 1%.
Although gold pays no yield, investors choose gold over bonds because they bet on price appreciation exceeding 4% annually. That compensated for the opportunity cost.
Bitcoin price faced the same calculus. Higher volatility and smaller market capitalization differentiated it, as it operates as a leveraged expression of Dalio’s gold dynamics.
Fed Easing Into Bubble Creates Melt-Up Risks
Dalio warned that the Fed’s easing into elevated valuations created asymmetric risks. He compared the setup to that of late 1999 and 2010-2011, periods that saw liquidity-driven melt-ups followed by policy tightening that burst asset bubbles.
His framework suggested the ideal exit would come during the melt-up phase, just before tightening became necessary to contain inflation.
Bitcoin price has historically amplified both phases of this cycle. The 2021-2022 cycle illustrated this dynamic, with the Bitcoin price peaking near $69,000 in November 2021 as the Fed telegraphed its plans to tighten, then falling 77% as rate hikes and balance sheet reductions took effect.
The current environment presented a similar two-phase scenario.
If the Fed’s balance sheet maintenance evolved into sustained quantitative easing alongside rate cuts and large deficits, the Bitcoin price would benefit from the same wealth effects and liquidity channels Dalio outlined for long-duration tech stocks and inflation hedges.
The Fed’s pivot from tightening to easing, while fiscal deficits exceeded $1.8 trillion annually, matched the exact conditions JPMorgan’s debasement trade thesis anticipated.
Dalio’s characterization of this policy mix as late-cycle debt monetization provided the fundamental mechanism behind the trade’s construction.
Investors may look to position in gold and Bitcoin to front-run the scenario Dalio described, and this should follow a well-established playbook: gold soars first, then liquidity starts pouring into Bitcoin.