Ricardo Benjamín Salinas Pliego is a Mexican billionaire businessman, founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, a group of companies with interests in telecommunications, media, financial services, and retail stores. He is the third richest person in Mexico and the 172nd richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of US$13.6 billion in February 2021
Pliego, already well known as a Bitcoin proponent, has stuck by his conviction, furthering South America’s newfound penchant for the largest cryptocurrency.
“That’s totally right, Bitcoin is the new gold, but too much more portable, transport Bitcoin is so much easier than having your in pockets gold bars … and i know that I’m going to be attacked by gold lovers,” he responded to a tweet by MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor.
Saylor had linked to a previous video interview with Pliego in which he argued that Bitcoin easily beats the U.S. dollar when it comes to wealth preservation.
Pliego has professed his admiration for Bitcoin on multiple occasions and various platforms, including in a dedicated interview with Cointelegraph at the start of the year.
When asked by a Twitter user how Mexico could follow El Salvador in making it legal tender, Pliego nonetheless drew a blank. “No idea,” he replied.
As Cointelegraph reported, El Salvador’s new era of legal tender BTC comes into force in September, while Paraguay is also making noises about increased use.