Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego is advocating for Bitcoin, calling government-issued currency theft and urging followers to protect their wealth with the digital asset.
In a video posted to his X account on August 31, the founder of Grupo Salinas stated that “fiat inflation is a hidden tax,” aligning with his long-held critiques of traditional finance.
Ricardo Salinas Pliego’s Bitcoin portfolio
“Fiat inflation is a hidden tax,” Salinas stated, repeating a long-held critique of central banking. The business magnate, who is the third richest person in Mexico with an estimated net worth of approximately $5 billion, advised his followers to opt out of the system.
“Don’t be fooled: learn, protect your savings, and defend your freedom, buy bitcoin and hold it.” His comments are the latest in a multi-year public campaign against fiat currencies, a stance rooted in his conviction that governments devalue money at will, even as ETF inflows rebound in the broader market.
Unlike many high-profile commentators, Salinas backs his vocal support with one of the most aggressive personal allocation strategies on public record. Over the past few years, he has radically shifted his liquid portfolio towards Bitcoin. In 2020, he held approximately 10% in the asset.
By 2022, that figure had jumped to 60%, and as of June 2026, reports indicate between 70% and 80% of his liquid holdings are in Bitcoin and Bitcoin-related equities.
The remaining 20% of his portfolio is reportedly invested in gold and silver miners, underscoring a deep conviction in hard assets over government-controlled currency. “As soon as I get my hands on some fiat, I turn it into Bitcoin,” Salinas has stated in interviews, summarizing his simple but powerful investment thesis.
This aggressive stance contrasts with more cautious corporate treasury acquisitions, highlighting his distinct approach. His conviction runs so deep that he has publicly boasted about his personal advocacy within his own family.
“I convinced my wife to mortgage the house that she has and take a loan to buy bitcoin,” he once boasted, a statement that highlights his extreme confidence in the asset’s long-term value proposition. This approach reflects Salinas’s focus on Bitcoin as a tool for individual sovereignty and wealth preservation, an outlook he frequently shares.
Salinas has also made bold price predictions, suggesting Bitcoin could eventually reach $1 million or even $1.5 million per coin. While these figures may seem outlandish, they reflect his belief that Bitcoin is not merely a speculative asset but a fundamental replacement for a failing monetary system.
He sees its finite supply as its most critical feature. “Bitcoin changes one fundamental rule: no one can print more just because they want to,” he explained.
The ‘fiat fraud’: a lifelong critique of central banks
Salinas’s deep-seated distrust of government money is not a recent development. His financial philosophy was shaped by his family, which was involved in gold and silver mining, and their discussions around the devaluation of currency. He frequently cites President Richard Nixon’s 1971 decision to sever the U.S. dollar’s convertibility to gold as a pivotal moment that cemented the global “fiat fraud.”
This worldview, combined with personal experience witnessing hyperinflation, has fueled his crusade. He delivered a keynote address at the Bitcoin 2022 conference where he dissected his theory of the “fiat fraud” in detail. He accused the U.S. Federal Reserve of “printing money out of thin air, and then making fake purchases,” arguing that such actions systematically devalue the savings of ordinary people.
“When you work, you trade your time (your life) for money,” he explained in his recent video. “But when governments create money at will and dilute its value, they steal the time you sacrificed to earn it.” For Salinas, Bitcoin is not just an inflation hedge; it is “monetary truth” and a technology that “protects the citizen from government expropriation.”
A history of advocacy and ambition in Mexico
Salinas has been a public figure in the Bitcoin space for years, having first been introduced to the asset around 2013 when it traded for just a few hundred dollars. His commitment has not been without challenges.
In 2021, he revealed a bold plan for Banco Azteca, the bank he founded and one of Mexico’s largest, to become the first financial institution in the country to accept Bitcoin.
The ambitious plan, however, stalled due to pushback from Mexican financial regulators. This regulatory resistance demonstrated the hurdles to mainstream adoption, even when championed by one of the nation’s most powerful business leaders.
His conviction also led him down a risky path in 2021 when he attempted to borrow $150 million against $416 million in Grupo Elektra shares to finance a $400 million Bitcoin purchase.
The lender, Astor Capital Fund, was later revealed to be fraudulent, highlighting the dangers that still exist in the financial ecosystem surrounding digital assets. Despite these setbacks, his resolve appears unshaken as he continues to promote personal Bitcoin ownership over regulated financial products.
Salinas’s ongoing Bitcoin crusade
Today, Ricardo Salinas Pliego stands as one of the world’s most vocal and heavily invested Bitcoin advocates from the traditional world of finance and industry. He uses his prominent social media presence to relentlessly preach his message to millions of followers, framing the choice between fiat and Bitcoin as a fundamental decision about personal freedom.
“Fiat money is a fraud. It’s a scam. It’s fake money. And it’s coming to an end,” he declared in one interview. This stark, uncompromising language separates him from other institutional investors who often frame their Bitcoin interest in more measured terms of portfolio diversification or treasury management. For Salinas, it is an ideological battle for the future of money.
As he continues to convert his own vast wealth into Bitcoin, his public statements serve as both a warning and a call to action. By positioning the debate as one of individual liberty against state-controlled monetary debasement, Salinas is not just making an investment case for Bitcoin—he is making a political and philosophical one.
His influence, particularly in Latin America where currency instability is a lived reality for many, ensures his voice will remain a powerful force in the global conversation around Bitcoin adoption, especially as realized capitalization jumps across the ecosystem.