Mexican billionaire advices citizens to ‘buy Bitcoin’ in New Year message
A billionaire and the third-richest person in Mexico, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, has sent out a new year message in a two minute festive video for all Bitcoin enthusiasts on Christmas Eve asking people to shift from fiat money and buy Bitcoins.
In the post, he was seen giving three pieces of advice to his Twitter community of followers, around 957,200, stating that “Steer clear of fiat money,” whether it is Dollar, Yen or Euro. He called them “fake money”, “made out of paper lies”, and that central banks have been producing more than ever. He also asked his followers to share and retweet the message across.
In the video, Pliego can also be seen pausing before he points to the camera, saying, “Invest in Bitcoin!”
Further in the video, Pliego is standing in front of a golden Christmas tree with his two other “presents” of advice – to let go of jealousy and to believe in oneself, especially they are pursuing freedom and innovation.
It does not come as a surprise Pliego is promoting Bitcoin or investing into it. He has been a prominent Bitcoin evangelist since the year 2013, and his Twitter bio describes him as simply a “Mexican businessman and Bitcoin holder.”
Pliego is aimed at making Banco Azteca, the country’s second-largest retail bank, its first lender to conduct business in BTC. However, as Chairman of the bank’s parent company, Grupo Salinas, had been left disappointed in June this year.
Mexico’s central bank, as a response to his ambiguous plans, had stated that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are not legal tender and they are therefore prohibited from use in the Mexican financial system.
Alejandro Díaz de León, Governor of the Bank of Mexico, had in September dismissed Bitcoin as a reliable legal tender, stating that the price volatility of Bitcoin is a major roadblock towards its full-fledged adoption.
It might be unlikely to deter Pliego as he has been orange-pilling Mexico’s 128 million people in 2021. In an interview in January this year, he had also shared his conviction for Bitcoin as a non-confiscatable asset.
In the same interview, he had also declared having first bought Bitcoin at $500 in 2013 through Grayscale, while saying that by 2018 it had become one of his “best investments ever.”
The business tycoon has also tweeted in favour of Bitcoin remittances, which he opines could be a potential $40-billion market for Mexicans sending cross-border payments to the United States.
