Billionaire Bets the House on Bitcoin-and His Wife’s Too

“For most people, the biggest investment, their nest egg, is their home equity,” he says. “Find a way to transform that into some kind of bitcoin exposure.” In his vision, both the house and the bitcoin rise together, like two dancers in a particularly volatile ballet.

He points to bitcoin’s long-term appreciation as proof. In 2016, bitcoin lounged lazily around $400. A Central London home cost $1.6 million-or 4,000 bitcoin. Today, with home prices barely budging, that same house would cost fewer than 30 bitcoin. Real estate, it seems, has been outpaced by a digital coin that doesn’t even have the decency to exist physically.

To Salinas, this is the ultimate demonstration that bitcoin outshines traditional stores of value. “It’s an asymmetrical bet to the upside,” he says. “The more people find out about bitcoin, the more demand there will be.” One can almost hear the triumphant violin crescendo.

The ‘fiat fraud’

Salinas, who has been floated as a potential presidential candidate in Mexico for the 2030 election (please confirm political information with a trusted source), traces his distrust of fiat currencies back to the era when Richard Nixon severed the dollar’s ties to gold. A family dinner table filled with talk of gold, inflation, and the “fiat fraud”-truly the ambiance every child dreams of.

“In the mid-1970s, the famous fiat fraud committed by Richard Nixon was, of course, a big issue at home,” he recalls. His father and grandfather would discuss gold with the fervor of sports fans arguing over a referee’s call. Governments, they warned, were printing money “like crazy.”

Gold proved them right-or at least made them feel smug. From $125 an ounce in 1976 to over $4,500 today, its purchasing power soared. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar now buys only about 15% of what it once did. A tragic decline, like a once-great actor now starring in toothpaste commercials.

The Salinas family, long involved in gold and silver mining, had skin in the game. These early lessons-scarcity good, fiat bad-etched themselves into young Ricardo’s mind. Bitcoin, with its digital scarcity, became the modern heir to that golden throne.

Despite bitcoin’s notorious mood swings-sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes screaming into the void-Salinas remains convinced it is one of the most attractive opportunities for investors. He avoids short‑term predictions, perhaps wisely, given bitcoin’s tendency to behave like a caffeinated squirrel.

But when pressed about bold forecasts from Cathie Wood and Michael Saylor, who predict bitcoin could reach seven figures, he finally relents.

“So it will be a million dollars,” he says. “I just don’t know when.” A statement both grand and delightfully vague-like promising to clean the garage “someday.”