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November 18, 2020
6 minutes read

Mexican Billionaire Bets Big On Bitcoin

As Bitcoin just reached a three-year high amid increasing adoption, the popular cryptocurrency has gotten yet another big backer, this…

As Bitcoin just reached a three-year high amid increasing adoption, the popular cryptocurrency has gotten yet another big backer, this time the Mexican billionaire businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego. In a recent tweet, Pliego revealed that Bitcoin currently accounts for 10% of his liquid assets, a major investment for a businessman who controls one of Mexico’s largest conglomerates, Grupo Salinas, and is personally worth nearly $12 billion according to Forbes estimates.

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El Bitcoin protege al ciudadano de la expropiación gubernamental.

Muchas personas me preguntan si tengo bitcoins, SÍ. Tengo el 10% de mi portafolio líquido invertido en el ?? pic.twitter.com/6LtFVCXvuA

— Ricardo Salinas Pliego (@RicardoBSalinas) November 17, 2020

As of late, Pliego seems enthusiastic about Bitcoin and has put out many tweets cheering the cryptocurrency. It feels very notable for a businessman who inherited a company from his father and expanded it further to become Mexico’s largest consumer finance company as well as one of the country’s biggest conglomerates.

Pliego has big businesses spanning finance, retail, media, and telecommunications among others. By Forbes estimates, he’s known to be the second richest man in Mexico after the well-known Carlos Slim.

Pliego’s statement and endorsement of Bitcoin comes just on the heels of the cryptocurrency climbing to a price of nearly $18,000, a record level since 2017. As of late, Bitcoin has seen increased adoption from both consumers and corporations.

Recently, MicroStrategy, a publicly-traded business intelligence company, bought up over $400 million worth of Bitcoins. Likewise, Square, the payments company, recently bought up $50 million in Bitcoin. Notably, both Square and MicroStrategy are publicly-traded and count as one of the first-ever public companies to purchase cryptocurrency as a value-hold.

Photo credit: Secretaría de Cultura CDMX, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0