Fake money is everywhere! In just the last 3 years, the United States Treasury has printed over 80% of the money in circulation today! This has led to massive amounts of inflation, over inflated home prices, and the continuation and massive “warp speed” collapse of the U.S dollar. The money printer is in the hands of the government and they can do with our currency as they wish. While countries are beginning to remove the U.s.s dollar as their exchange currency, America is more focused on smoke and mirror issues of distraction in addition to printing more money and sending billions of taxpayer dollars overseas. Like most things, however, there are ways to protect yourself from the fake money and still continue to build real wealth of true value. But first, let’s take a brief look at what separates real money from fake money to determine what could qualify as a strong investment.
The beginning of the end for the U.S. Dollar
In 1971, President Richard Nixon took the U.S. dollar off of the gold standard. In layman’s terms, the gold standard meant that the money in circulation of U.S. dollars was backed by an amount of gold, making it finite and therefore able to hold true value. Gold is a finite resource, meaning there is a limited amount of gold on this earth and it cannot be recreated by man. Once the dollar came off the gold standard, it became somewhat discretionary what kind of value the dollar actually holds, especially now when the government has decided to print more at will.
As our currency crumbles, adversarial countries such as China have been quick to swoop in to persuade other world powers to stop using the U.S. dollar as their reserve currency. Being the world reserve currency makes the United States the world superpower since we can control and sanction trade since trade is being conducted with our dollar in many other world powers. An alliance between China, Russia, and other American adversaries have been in talks about creating a new currency to replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Unsurprisingly, their plans consist of backing this currency with some sort of precious metal such as gold or silver. What a novel idea!
While the United States government continues to dig us into a financial hole by both printing more money and growing our national debt, now north of $31 trillion dollars, Americans need now more than ever a new way to build wealth. Getting a job, working hard, putting your money in a savings account or a 401k in the S&P 500 are no longer viable options in the new world. Below, I will define several asset classes I believe every American should seriously consider in order to diversify out of the U.S. dollar, and in many respects, the stock market as well. Before we get into that, let’s talk about the future of currency and where I think it may be headed rather quickly.
Blockchain, the future of money
It’s no secret the government is trying to centralize and control currency and monetary policy as much as it can. Never more than in the last 3 years have we seen “cashless” stores and vendors. Shifting purchasing power from physical cash to an all card based system is a way the government can gain even more control of the money supply and what people do with their money. Luckily, living in the amazing free market capitalist society we currently enjoy, I believe the solution to this issue has already been created. The blockchain is the answer. On the blockchain, people can store their own money without anyone being able to get their hands on it. No longer will banks be able to use your deposits for investment in a market that will inevitably crash due to bad policy and cause massive losses of wealth. The blockchain also allows for anonymity. It is impossible to tell what parties were involved in a transaction after it occurs. Of course, this technology needs to be refined as it will be over time, but the demand for this type of product is clear and obvious. Using the extremely well-known and traded examples of Bitcoin and Ethereum, it has been demonstrated that the possibilities are endless for this technology and this is only the beginning. Right now, I believe the power of blockchain currency is extremely powerful for the following reasons:
- It is decentralized and cannot be manipulated by any government.
- Transactions are untraceable after occurrence by nosy third parties.
- The currency can be used to buy and sell everything from everyday items all the way to real estate.
- People are in control of their finances instead of banks by keeping their money in their own “wallet” instead of a bank controlled account.
- There is a cap on how much of a specific currency can be created.
These are just some examples of why this technology could save the world economy from government-induced failure. Some of the issues that will need to be fixed by the open market in my opinion are:
- The ease at which one can lose their wallet or have it stolen from them.
- Lack of digital cards that can be used for faster everyday exchange.
- Developing mainstay coins that produce true value in the world.
- Ridding the corruption of crypto exchanges such as FTX and other large Ponzi schemes.
Of course, not everything is perfect, but we have a baseline technology for what will undoubtedly be the future. Everyday, we are getting closer to this seeming inevitability. The further we can get from government overreach and overregulation, the better off the world economy at large will be. The only way currency retains value is if it’s finite and isn’t maintained using quantitative easing methods.
Right now, there are vehicles I strongly believe make a great investment given the market conditions of today. They are as follows.
Crypto
Obviously, the majority of this blog thus far has been discussing the power of the blockchain technology so cryptocurrency seems like a no brainer to be on this list. Stable coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have shown real world usage and application as a currency that can truly hold its weight. A long term play on these types of currencies, all while avoiding the garbage coins that exist, interjects an extremely valuable avenue to fight the fake money problem.
Real estate
If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll know I’m heavy into real estate and for good reason. Real estate has been a valuable commodity since the beginning of humanity and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Regardless of values dipping due to increasing interest rates and a bad economy in the current moment, the long-term play makes a lot of sense. Real estate will always hold value. New ways of exchanging real estate other than in U.S. dollars and bank mortgages have emerged such as the sale of a property using the blockchain in the form of crypto and NFTs. In this market much like 2008-2010, real estate is heading to a place where it will soon be able to be purchased at a discount potentially. Utilizing creative finance, I’ve been able to acquire around 30 units so far this year. I will continue to utilize the same strategies until the market changes. I have spoken about these creative financing strategies in some of our previous posts. If you want to learn more, I recommend you go check them out!
Precious metals
The crux of this article is that the U.S. dollar is losing its value due to it being taken off the gold standard and the government as a result decades later has the ability to do as they wish by printing seemingly unlimited amounts of money. It should come as no surprise that I would hold the value of precious metal at such high esteem. Our adversaries think it’s a good idea to create a new currency that is backed by precious metal. This should be a hint to us that there is large inherent value in this commodity due to that fact alone.
No matter what you do or choose to invest in, make sure you’re being proactive with your money and understand the state of the U.S. dollar and the economy we are in. The old way of saving money is dead and it isn’t coming back anytime soon. Make prudent decisions and protect yourself and your hard earned resources to ensure you continue to grow your wealth unhindered.