Ray Dalio, Founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, believes that regulators will ultimately take control of Bitcoin if the cryptocurrency gains mainstream success.

“I think at the end of the day, if it’s really successful, they will kill it, and they will try to kill it. And I think they will kill it because they have ways of killing it,” said Dalio at the SALT conference in New York.

As the crypto markets continue to grab attention, U.S. regulators have stepped up their oversight of the volatile cryptocurrency space. On September 14, securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said that Wall Street’s top regulator is working overtime to create a set of rules that will protect investors. The rules will be aimed at better regulation of the thousands of new digital assets and coins.

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Despite some heavy bouts of volatility, lately, Bitcoin has been quite successful. In the last 12 months, the cryptocurrency has more than quadrupled.  Earlier this year, it hit a high above $60,000.

“You have El Salvador taking it on, and you have India and China getting rid of it. And you have the United States talking about how to regulate it, and it could still be controlled,” Dalio said.

Recently, El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender. Meanwhile, India could potentially propose a law banning cryptocurrencies and penalizing miners and traders. China has already started cracking down on the crypto markets and ordered miners to shut their operations.

A Brief History of Cryptocurrency

Dalio added that Bitcoin does not have intrinsic value, meaning that the asset lacks fundamental and objective worth. “There are so many things in a historical perspective that didn’t have intrinsic value and had perceived value. And then it went hot, and it became cold. It could be either way. You just have to know what it is. It could be tulips in Holland,” Dalio said.

Still, the billionaire investor said Bitcoin makes an excellent alternative to cash. He also said that he owns a smaller percentage of the digital token compared with his gold exposure in the portfolio.

“I think it’s worth considering all the alternatives to cash and all the alternatives to the other financial assets. Bitcoin is a possibility. I have a certain amount of money in bitcoin,” Dalio said. “It’s an amazing accomplishment to have brought it from where that programming occurred to where it is through the test of time.”