Banko Azecta chief to accept Bitcoin from Sunday; calls BTC “New gold”

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego explained via Twitter that he is optimistic about using Bitcoin, as well as saying that his bank plans to accept the cryptocurrency by the end of this week.

“All investors should study cryptocurrency and their future”

Salinas, Mexico’s third-richest man with a family fortune estimated at $15.8 billion, owns the big banking business Banco Azteca, which has more than 10 million digital customers.

On Sunday, he said all investors should start studying cryptocurrencies and their future.

The billionaire also tweeted in response to Bitcoin’s maximalist and CEO of MicroStrategy Michael Saylor that his bank wants to become the first bank in Mexico to accept Bitcoin and recommends using it. Later that day he wished him luck with the bet on Bitcoin that Microstrategy made earlier this month.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the value of the Mexican tycoon’s fortune, which includes retail companies, media firms, and banks, rose $2.8 billion last year to $15.8 billion.

Salinas would take Bitcoin instead of gold with him in a time machine

The billionaire was also asked that if he travelled 30 years into the future, which money, assets, or goods would he take with him.

He replied that he would not carry “any stinking fiat money, not a peso, not a fiat paper” on his journey. He would not bring gold either due to its portability problem. “The problem with gold is where you keep it; that is, the custody of gold bars is not an easy thing,” he noted, adding that for this reason, the billionaire would choose to take Bitcoin with him.

It seems that the debate about whether bitcoin will be more valuable than gold in the future is still relevant. One of the most vocal gold maxis on Twitter, Peter Schiff, criticizes Bitcoin as inferior to the precious metal.

Others have urged for a more balanced approach to Bitcoin and gold, with businessman Robert Kiyosaki urging for investors to “get more gold, silver, and Bitcoin while you can”.