Over the past year, I’ve written quite a bit about the
Iraqi dinar,
the foreign currency that many self-appointed “gurus” try to convince
buyers will suddenly “revalue” from being one of the most worthless
currencies in the world to one of the most valuable. Dinar brokers sells
bundles of the dinar that you can only buy in cash directly from Iraq,
then you sit on it and wait for the Iraqi government (or President
Obama, or the IMF, or whatever) to pull the trigger on boosting it
hundreds of thousands of percent in value.
It doesn’t take a degree in finance to tell you that this is false.
Many actual financial experts have debunked the myth of the Iraqi dinar
“RV,” and while gurus have been promising for years that the magical day
where millions of dinars turn into millions of dollars was right around
the corner, it’s not, it never has been and it never will be. Iraq’s
economy is nowhere near being able to support an electronically traded
currency with serious value, and it might be a decade or more before
that happens.
Fortunately, the dinar scam looks like it’s finally abating. There
are numerous, well-written pieces by people at Forbes, Business Insider
and others presenting well-researched and logical information about why
the dinar is about as worthwhile an investment as magic beans.
The Vietnamese dong
Not only that, but law enforcement is starting to crack down on dinar
brokers who exploit a loophole in currency law to sell cash as a
collectable. Of the four dinar websites I mentioned in the piece, one,
Sterling Currency Group has been raided by the FBI and shut down, while
Bet on Iraq is now a dead link. Additionally, one of the most vocal
dinar gurus, Anthony “TNT Tony” Renfrow, recently
pled guilty to wire fraud in relation to a different prosperity scam – one that used many of the same techniques as the dinar.
But just as scams like the
“Omega Trust” and NESARA
begat the dinar scam, it’s only a matter of time before the resources
put into selling and pimping this worthless currency is put toward
selling and pimping some other worthless currency. Which one will it be?
Here a few different national currencies to be on the lookout for as
the next great money scam:
Vietnamese dong
If there’s one other currency that dinar gurus love to sell along with
the dinar, it’s the dong. Vietnam has a complex history when it comes to
currency, one intertwined with the fractured history of the country.
Both North and South Vietnam issued their own currency, both called the
dong, in the 1950s. When Vietnam was united by the communist insurgency
in 1975, the dong was also unified. It went through several
redenominations, lopping zeroes off the inflated exchange rate with old
currency exchanged for new. For decades, Vietnam struggled with
inflation, counterfeiting, and the dong’s lack of value against other
currencies.
Finally, in 2003, Vietnam introduced new notes that were harder to
counterfeit, and it developed a new banking system designed to handle
large transactions.
Even with all of these reforms, the dong is one of the most, if not the most,
worthless currencies in the world. It
currently trades
for around 21800 to one dollar, and only in cash, not electronically.
Like the dinar, you can buy them in cash from brokers working under the
“money service business” loophole. Like the dinar, the dong is massively
overprinted. And like the dinar, they take a massive cut, usually
charging between 20 to 25% more than the value of what you’re getting.
And finally, like the dinar, the dong has lost value in the past year,
as it traded at 21175 to one dollar one year ago. Dongs are becoming
less valuable, not more.
But that doesn’t stop “gurus” from hyping them as the next
great currency
to rise when the “global currency reset” happens. They seize on minor
details, like some US banks carrying dong to exchange for dollars. But
there’s a simple reason for this – more and more Americans are traveling
to southeast Asia, including Vietnam. While
dollars are accepted,
shopkeepers will usually round their prices up when dealing with
dollars, making items more expensive than using the local currency. It’s
not part of any massive currency reset, it’s just tourism.
The dong is a viable currency to buy if you’re going to Vietnam.
Other than that, it’s useless as an investment. The Vietnamese
government might attempt to redenominate it again, but as we’ve
discussed with the dinar, redenomination is not the same as revaluing –
one is a real and legitimate technique to bring down inflation, the
other is pie in the sky nonsense.
Stacks of Indonesian rupiah
Indonesian rupiah
The rupiah is the currency of Indonesia, and while its pimping and
selling are not quite at the level of the dinar or dong, don’t be
shocked if it gets there. Way back in 1949, when Indonesia first gained
independence, the rupiah traded for about 3.8 to one dollar. But
hyperinflation hit almost immediately, and soon price controls had to be
introduced. In the 70s, the rate was about 415 to the dollar, dropping
even further going into the 80s. Despite Indonesia having a strong
economy, the rupiah continued to drop in value, and crashed completely
in August 1997.
In 2015, there was something of a gain, as money flowed into the
country before its presidential election. But post-election, the rupiah
crashed again, and
hit a low of 13,000 to the dollar. Compare this to their
value a year ago, which was 11710, and you have another currency that would have lost you much of your investment.
The country had vowed to redenominate the rupiah, but put that on
hold while its economy stabilizes. In the meantime, unless you’re an
experienced foreign currency trader (and chances are if you’re reading
this, you’re not), stay away from the rupiah.
The infamous Zimbabwean 100 trillion dollar note
Zimbabwean dollar
Everyone likes a big number, and the bigger, the better. So it made news when
Zimbabwae,
hit with crippling inflation, introduced a 100 trillion dollar note, it
made international headlines. It was also the beginning of the end for
the currency, as in 2009, Zimbabwe announced they’d be phasing out their
currency altogether, and relying on foreign currencies like the US
dollar. The zim will become completely demonetized by the end of 2015,
though there are
unwelcome rumors that the country is experimenting with printing new (most likely much lower) denominations.
At this point, Zimbabwean dollars are worthwhile only as collector’s
items. They literally are about to have no value as actual money, and
the country is attempting to get the last notes out of circulation.
This admittedly makes those 100 bazillion dollar notes valuable, and the
highest ones
go for around 20-25 bucks on eBay. But even then, the market is flooded
with them. You’re not going to get rich off any money coming out of
Zimbabwae. Nobody ever has.
Something else
The Chinese yuan, South Korean won, and various other Asian and Middle
Eastern currencies are also mentioned as being the “next currency” to be
revalued, despite nothing being the previous one. Chances are, it won’t
happen, for both simple and complex reasons.
As always, be skeptical of anyone touting the benefits of buying
large amounts of a cheap currency with lofty promises for the future.
They’re almost certainly not true.
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