Mexican Billionaire Urges Followers to Buy Bitcoin and HODL It: ‘You Are Going to Thank Me Later’

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, founder and chairman of the Mexican conglomerate Grupo Salinas and the third richest person in Mexico, has urged his followers on social media to “buy bitcoin” and HODL it.

In a tweet the billionaire, whose holding company has interests in telecommunications, media, financial services, and steal stores, told his followers to “keep buying when the price is low,” and added “trust me you’re going to thank me later.”

Pliego’s tweet came in response to one from Bitcoin Magazine that implied users selling their BTC were simply allowing whales – defined as cryptocurrency holders with large amounts in their wallets – to accumulate more at cheaper prices.

Bitcoin is at the time of writing changing hands for $38,700 after losing more than 40% of its value from an all-time high seen in November 2021. The cryptocurrency’s price has been falling along with the prices of other risk assets amid inflation fears and as investors fear a Russian invasion of Ukraine may lead to a large-scale conflict.

Pliego is notably a well-known bitcoin proponent, who in June last year said bitcoin is an “asset that has extraordinary properties,” which make it “gold for the modern world.” Earlier the billionaire said the flagship cryptocurrency was his “best investment ever.”

The Mexican billionaire has also often attacked fiat currencies, telling his followers late last year that they should “stay away from fiat money” and instead rotate to cryptocurrencies like BTC. The billionaire, in November 2020, revealed that 10% of his liquid assets were in bitcoin.

In 2015, the Mexican billionaire reportedly bet on BTC  by forming “an alliance with Bitreserve, the San Francisco-based Bitcoin exchange founded late last year by Halsey Minor, former founder and CEO of CNET.”