By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investors Steven Cohen and Ray Dalio have joined the cryptocurrency craze by putting cash to work and saying at a conference this week that bitcoin and other digital currencies are an interesting way to diversify their holdings.

Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates (the world’s biggest hedge fund), and said to attendees during the SALT conference in New York that “I have more bitcoin than gold.”

Cohen, the CEO of Point72 Asset Management said this week that he wants to make the most of the opportunities offered by digital currencies.

SkyBridge (an alternative investment firm founded by Anthony Scaramucci) hosts the SALT conference. Ray Nolte said that the company has made a 12% Bitcoin investment.

Although there are investment firms that seek to provide funds for cryptocurrency, which look and behave like stocks and bonds funds, these funds can still be volatile and could prove risky. After falling below $30,000 in July, cryptocurrencies traded at $48,000 Wednesday. It reached $600,000 in April.

Dalio noted that cryptocurrency represents diversification. Portfolios must be spread across multiple asset classes. According to him, diversification is good.

Cohen, who has been researching cryptocurrencies himself as well as for his company for some time now, told investors that in May he wouldn’t be “remissing” the $2 trillion market for cryptocurrency.

Cohen, who announced this week that he is investing in Radkl (a digital asset trading and investment firm) and told conference attendees that Point72 has begun to build crypto-trading capabilities.

The conference in New York was the first to be held this year in New York after the Las Vegas event was cancelled because of the pandemic.

The Cohen and Dalio presentations were the most popular at the conference. Investors and fund managers were eager to learn how billionaires view topics such as China relations and working remotely.

Dalio suggested that China might be seen as an existential danger to the United States. He also said it was imperative to establish more contacts with China, and not less, in order for a better understanding about how its government works.

Cohen, on the other hand, stated that flexibility is crucial in a post-pandemic environment. He said, “I enjoy working at home. I don’t need to be there five days per week.” We need flexibility, I think.