Forbes billionaire Salinas: My bank will become Mexico's first to accept Bitcoin

Mexico's third richest man, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, plans to establish the first Bitcoin bank in Mexico. He revealed this plan in response to a tweet from Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy.

Mexico's third richest man, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, plans to establish the first Bitcoin bank in Mexico. He revealed this plan in response to MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor's tweet.

If you are hoping to preserve your wealth for a generation, @RicardoBSalinas suggests you invest in #bitcoin. The strategy is simple – choose the highest quality asset you can find and #hodl. https://t.co/ScRubzNBuR

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) June 27, 2021

Michael Saylor posted a video on Twitter where Ricardo Salinas Pliego voiced his support for Bitcoin and referred to fiat currency as "fraud."

In the video, Salinas, during an interview with Bitcoin ATM provider Chainbytes, mentioned that Bitcoin is an asset that every investor should have, as it has international markets and significant liquidity for global transactions. Salinas also dismissed alternative coins like Dogecoin as "junk coins."

Shortly after Michael Saylor's tweet, Salinas Pliego responded on Twitter that the bank he founded, Banco Azteca, will become Mexico's first bank to accept Bitcoin.

With a net worth of $12.9 billion, Salinas ranks as the 166th wealthiest person globally. Banco Azteca, established by Salinas 19 years ago, is one of Mexico's largest banks with over 16 million depositors and 19 million loan clients.

In 2019, Banco Azteca also operated branches in El Salvador.

Earlier this year, Salinas changed his Twitter bio to "Bitcoin" and his profile picture to red laser eyes.

In November last year, Salinas tweeted that 10% of his investments were in Bitcoin.

The Grupo Salinas conglomerate founded by Salinas focuses on retail and media, with most of his wealth coming from his stake in the consumer electronics retailer Grupo Elektra, which provides loans to Mexico's lower-middle class through Banco Azteca that he established.

However, Salinas is a controversial figure. In 2005, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Salinas of tax evasion through his company TV Azteca's stock sales, as he had $109 million in assets in the US at the time. The case was settled in September 2006, with Salinas agreeing to pay a $7.5 million fine and restitution to the SEC.

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