What to Do When Government Money Goes Bad
By Greg Wilson, analyst, Palm Beach Confidential
First, they sold their car.
Then, they downsized from a house to a small apartment.
Next, they cut meat from their diets. And now, they skip meals to ensure survival.
This is the story of Vanessa Posada and her husband Adolfo.
They live in Venezuela. And their money simply doesn’t go that far anymore.
Falling oil prices have sent the economy into free fall. Per experts, the inflation rate is 720% and rising.
And today, an estimated 93% of Venezuelans don’t have enough money to buy food.
It’s a sad story… especially considering that Vanessa did everything right.
She completed her university studies. Then she got a job as a schoolteacher. And she later got married and had a child.
But that’s not enough to save her from government money gone bad.
Consider that at the beginning of 2014, one Venezuelan bolivar equaled roughly 16 cents. Today, that bolivar will supposedly get you just 10 cents – a 38% decrease.
But that’s the official rate… the one no one pays attention to.
Today, one bolivar will actually get you just 0.000625 cents.
Put another way, at the beginning of 2014, you needed 6.25 bolivars to get $1. Today, using the black-market rate, you need 16,000 bolivars to get that same $1.
That means Vanessa’s bolivars are worth 99% less than just three years ago.
This story shows how governments can inflate a currency away. And it can leave those using that currency in a dire situation.
There’s a way Vanessa could have protected herself from government-driven inflation.
I’ll show you that in a moment. But first, don’t think it can’t happen to you.
Government Money: It’s Not Really Your Money
Venezuela is an extreme case. Folks tend to dismiss it. They think it can’t happen in their country.
But there’s no shortage of extraordinary situations going on in developed economies, too.
Take Switzerland, for example.
So far in 2017, Swiss banks have paid $1 billion just for the privilege of holding their deposits with the country’s central bank.
It’s called negative interest rate policy (NIRP). It’s an unorthodox policy designed to stoke inflation.
Swiss banks are so worried about getting their cash back, they’re willing to take less of it in the future.
If you think that’s backward, you’re right.
Ten years ago, no one even thought this was possible.
What ever happened to earning interest?
And just last month, the European Union let slip that it would freeze bank accounts if there’s a bank run.
A person familiar with the German government’s thinking recently told Reuters, “The desire is to prevent a bank run, so that when a bank is in a critical situation it is not pushed over the edge.”
The European Union wants to help failing lenders. It wants to keep banks solvent.
The only problem: It wants to use your money to do it.
The worst part is that it would be an ex parte procedure. That means without YOUR knowledge.
Per the European Commission, this would have a “surprise effect” and reduce the chance of you moving your money elsewhere.
Should this happen, we’d once again see the value of currencies inflated away.
So if you can’t trust government money, what can you trust?
Getting Out of Government Money
The solution is simple: cryptocurrencies. And the best place to start is bitcoin.
Here’s why…
You need to find a way to protect yourself so that you’re not relying solely on vulnerable paper currency.
Bitcoin isn’t owned by any government or any bank. And it has a fixed supply.
Politicians and economists can’t inflate it away.
It’s just better money.
The world is waking up to this fact. And as it does, we’re going to see capital flow out of the old, corrupt government systems and into cryptocurrencies.
In fact, it’s already happening. Just look at the chart below.
![](https://casey-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/editorial/cdd/170821-cdd-chart01.png)
As you can see, money is flowing into the future – bitcoin.
At the start of the year, bitcoin’s market cap stood at $15.6 billion. At writing, it’s just under $70 billion – a 325% rise.
The trend is just getting started.
It’s time to get one foot in the door, and protect yourself in the process.
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