Ricardo Salinas Says Bitcoin Makes Up 70% of His Investment Portfolio

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego told CoinDesk that he holds about 70% of his investment portfolio in bitcoin, describing the asset as a better long-term store of value than real estate. Salinas, whose net worth is estimated at roughly $5 billion, said his conviction is rooted in the view that fiat currencies lose purchasing power over time.

The comments matter because Salinas is not a marginal crypto figure. He is associated with Grupo Elektra, one of Mexico’s major business groups, and his unusually high bitcoin allocation stands far outside conventional portfolio-management norms, where advisers typically caution against large exposure to volatile assets.

Salinas argued that bitcoin’s performance against real estate supports his view. CoinDesk cited his comparison between a Central London home priced at about $1.6 million in January 2016, equivalent to roughly 4,000 bitcoin at the time, and the much smaller amount of bitcoin that would be needed for a similar purchase after years of bitcoin appreciation and relatively flat home prices.

His broader case comes from a family history shaped by gold and skepticism toward post-gold-standard fiat money. Salinas said conversations in his family after the U.S. ended the dollar’s direct convertibility into gold reinforced his belief that scarce assets can preserve value better than currencies issued by governments.

Salinas also linked bitcoin to the scarcity logic behind gold, while acknowledging uncertainty over timing. When asked about seven-figure bitcoin forecasts from other prominent bitcoin advocates, he said he believes bitcoin will reach $1 million, but did not say when.