Inflation has exploded to more than 5% for the past quarter – compared to under 2% two years ago. It’s the highest since the economic crisis of 2008. The biggest boom in costs have been food and energy with meat up over 17%, restaurant meals over 5%, and we’re getting crushed at the pumps with prices spiking over 42% over last year (Consumer Price Index-September 2021 (bls.gov)). When it comes to purchasing power, your dollar is becoming more and more like a penny! (I’ve never kept so little gas in my tank)
This is not just inflation, this is hyperinflation; and experts believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. When it comes to protecting your money during dangerous economic times like this, investors are supposed to look for “hedges against inflation.” These hedges are assets that are stable or actually gain value during inflation as other assets diminish or dissolve.
Historically, wise money managers turned to commodities such as gold and silver as hedges against inflation. I’ve made quite a bit of money on gold and silver stocks in the past during inflationary periods when not only did the price of the metals rise, but the value of the shares in companies that supported their mining, production, and sales. Yet today, there is a new major player on the block called cryptocurrency – and its replacing gold.
Other than inflation-protected treasuries that do not provide much of a return, there have always been precious metals to help. But crypto is easier to transact than attempting to figure out what to do with coins and bullion, is surging at unprecedented rates, and aggressively making its way into global economies. El Salvador, as an example, officially has made Bitcoin legal tender. Crypto is easy to store, use in financial transactions, and offers a number of significant ways to deal with hyperinflation.
The king of crypto, Bitcoin has risen from $600 to over $60,000 over the last 7-8 years. That’s literally nuts – a 100 times return! JPMorgan quoted that $146,000 was the long-term price target for bitcoin. That is about 130% in gains, a little over two times the value today of around $63,000 as of this writing.
Many if not most of the world’s largest investment firms, companies, and investors are heavily involved and more and more financial institutions are recognizing it as currency. Bank of America has officially recognized cryptocurrency as an asset class with U.S. Bancorp funds offering crypto services. Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, has invested $400 million in Bitcoin mining stocks and owns heavy positions in companies that are deep into cryptocurrencies.
Crypto is not just a currency, it is used in applications, contracts, and digital works of art called NFTs. The blockchain technology that makes up crypto is creating an entirely new digital future.
If you think you missed the train, well you kind of did on Bitcoin. However, you have not missed it at all on crypto. Now is the best time to get involved. The financial gains in crypto are radically out-performing stocks and again, can be a hedge against not only inflation but a whole lot of volatility to come in the markets. It is also an alternative to real estate, which is currently selling at historic highs, thus not a good time to get in.
Yet, crypto also crashes at times and there are only predictions as to how much farther any particular coin can climb. It is only through the right, well researched cryptocurrency purchased and sold at appropriate prices that makes the opportunity to get involved in crypto now the ideal time.
WARNING: Do not get into this alone, based on some articles, or through unproven crypto “experts.” I also don’t advise gambling huge sums of money, betting certain coins will be the next big winner. Crypto should also be part of a balanced portfolio and not your only investment strategy.
When I got involved 5 years ago, I just lost money investing randomly and getting really poor advice. Now, through some really nice, proven solutions and experts I’ve been very successful in investing in crypto. I’d be happy to direct you to these experts if you’d like to get involved. The right experts have modest costs, use processes with minimal risk, and have you investing in a way that optimizes your upside without gambling.
Invest wisely
Dr. Ben
