Recently, Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego recommended investors to purchase bitcoin “immediately.”
He asserted that bitcoin is the “new gold” and that the United States is increasingly becoming like an “irresponsible third world country.”
Strong words for someone who knows the business. Pliego, who ranks third in Mexico’s list of tycoons, is a vocal supporter of the crypto. Back then, he said 10% of his liquid portfolio was in bitcoin.
Fast forward three months, the founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas — a conglomerate of companies with heavy stakes in telecommunications, financial services, retail stores and media – reiterates the same battlecry: Buy Bitcoin and HODL it.
Mexican Billionaire: Buy The Dip
In a tweet Sunday, the billionaire told his followers to keep buying when the price is low and added: “Trust me you’re going to thank me later.”
According to Forbes’ list of billionaires, Pliego currently has a net worth of around $15 billion.
Pliego’s tweet was in response to one from Bitcoin Magazine, which indicated that consumers selling their Bitcoin were allowing whales to amass more at lower prices.
Bitcoin fell for the sixth consecutive day on Tuesday, reaching a low of $36,372 after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the recognition of two self-proclaimed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and the mobilization of military in the region.
Other cryptocurrencies also fell, with Ether losing roughly 3% and XRP shedding as much as 6.8%.
Numerous individuals and corporations have purchased the dip, including U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy, and El Salvador.
BTC total market cap at $7047.165 billion in the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com
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Mexico Blocks Azteca
Pliego recently revealed plans to open Mexico’s first bank that accepts Bitcoin as payment.
Banco Azteca, which he owns, operates in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru, with annual sales of $ 2.54 billion by 2020.
Banco Azteca was forced to discontinue its planned Bitcoin services last June after the Mexican government stated that it was not interested in becoming the next Bitcoin country.
Despite his success as a banker, the Mexican billionaire has little regard for fiat, referring to it as a hoax.
Governments despise bitcoin, he explained, “because it enables people to escape their fiat trap, since fiat money is a scam.”
He Doesn’t Mince Words
Pliego is not a man of ambiguity. He advised Americans in December to avoid fiat money – the dollar, euro, yen, or peso — because “they’re all fake money made of paper and lies.”
Meanwhile, Bitcoin fell below the $40,000 mark over the weekend and continued to deteriorate as the Ukraine crisis worsened, undermining the argument that cryptocurrencies are a safe haven during times of geopolitical turmoil.
Simultaneously, gold has risen to its highest level since June.
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Featured image from Bitcoin News, chart from TradingView.com