#1172 – The Expat Files: Crypto, Corruption, and Culture in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now that I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started You know, I've been getting a lot of emails about crypto lately That's what you'd expect though because so many gringles and expats people living outside the states are into crypto That's to be expected because if you look at the crypto currency space in general only people with above or way above average intelligence

[00:49] Ever get into the crypto field at all. You could probably prove it to yourself, too I bet you don't know of anyone who's of average intelligence or below average intelligence who's invested in crypto Unless maybe you've got an idiot or as they say in England a thick brother or sister who watched you make money in crypto And said hey, why don't you invest some of my money for me? Oh gee crypto guys get that all the time Isn't it funny though human nature? 95% of the people getting at the top They called you in that case or a fool a couple of years ago when you put your money into something They didn't understand it all When they heard it was a scam because Yahoo Finance and CNN told them it was a Ponzi scheme Then when you made five ten or a hundred X all your friends and relatives said why didn't you tell me about it?

[01:36] And then when you say yeah, I did I mentioned it remember four or five Thanksgiving dinners ago when we were sitting around and I mentioned it you all looked at me like I was nuts But they don't want to hear that when you bring it up. They say then why didn't you push harder and still They don't act then suddenly some time later Usually when it's run way up at the peak of a cycle when it's all over CNN and Yahoo Finance again as a magic way to make money suddenly you get that call They're interested again Usually because one of their friends or co-workers made some money in crypto and there's a fear of missing out I'm sure you've heard that term in the crypto markets before FOMO FOMO fear of missing out And now in this last year, especially in this last six months while crypto is taking a dump and it does that

[02:23] You know every once in a while. We have these so-called crypto winters. We're in one right now We never know how long they're gonna last but we always come out of them and head into a massive bull market again A crypto winter is when you get a 50 60 80 90 even 95% blowout across the board And some cryptos never come back Well that kind of stuff scares the hell out of newbies that includes people who just got in the crypto market a year or so Ago, they're all panicking now and saying oh man. I got wrecked What do I do now and that's when people have the temptation to sell and a lot of people can't stand the heat They can't stand those swings in the crypto market They just don't have the temperament for the volatility then again if you talk to anyone who's been invested in the market for over three years

[03:09] Everyone's still in the money some the real big money, too Even though we've been in this so-called crypto winter washout for a couple of months now I say calm down back up don't sell anything hold on you will be back in the money again Just be patient in fact I know some very smart people with money to spare who are buying in right now because it's at a low So I repeat lots and lots of expats are into the crypto thing for a good reason They're smarter than the average bear. They by nature accept risks a little bit better than the average guy They're chance takers they'd have to be to ditch everything up in the States or Canada or Europe come down here Latin America, right and Because expats gonna be using wannabes to especially ones who've got their plan be going in our era already Most of us even the old-timers the over 50 baby boomer crowd who are down here and have become expats already

[03:59] Those of us who've traveled who are a little bit worldly by definition. We've got our shit together We're above average and because we're above average and remember I can prove that we catch on faster We're more inquisitive. We investigate things more and we're just a little bit more market and tech savvy than the average guy That's easy to prove I know lots of people up in the States even friends and family who've never once invested in the stock market or commodities or anything Even as working steps if they got some kind of pension plan or 401k They just leave it in the hands of an insurance guy or broker. They don't manage it themselves They're afraid to do that When it comes to picking stocks commodities or money market plans to put your retirement funds in most people I know up in the States Just say to their broker put it in what you think is best you're the expert not me

[04:47] I'll tell you it's a lot different with the people I meet down here every single expat I know living down here in Latin America as Personally at least at one time in his life or rather dabbled in the market or commodities stocks Options you name it and many of them lost their asses because they are chance takers Some did all right to nevertheless expats seem to be a lot more hands-on when it comes to their own personal Investments than the average slug and Iowa who's never been out of the state except for Vegas and Disney World Though nothing against the average American slug the world needs them too After all someone's got to get the jabs wear the masks. We should bet the altar of dr Falsy drink Diet Coke vote Democrat and hang out at McDonald's. Oh and no emails calling me a trumper Please I firmly believe the state and federal level of both parties is filled with nothing but malignant

[05:38] sociopathic human cockroaches They're both responsible for that runaway train that's heading over a cliff The only difference is the Democrats train will get there faster That's why I don't vote just by the act of voting itself You're giving your seal of approval to the system deep down every intelligent person knows the system is completely broken Totally corrupt, but they still hope against reason make that trip down to the voting booth. Not me So anyway for all you expats and you gonna be some wannabes who've been sending me emails lots of emails Talking about lately how you've been licking your crypto wounds Especially those of you've got in just in the last year or so People are asking what's up or more precisely what's down with the market and what's my prediction and what should you do?

[06:24] Should you sell should you buy is the boom over will the crypto market ever come back? And if it does will the Fed or the regulators or Congress kill it? Well, I'm no financial planner or financial guru And you know before I even got down here to Latin America over 30 years ago I had invested in stocks commodities options Way back when I even got those cassette courses on how to short the market flip real estate read charts Learn all that Elliott wave stuff back in the 80s I accumulated a lot of information thought I knew enough about the markets to clean up after all to make a go of it As a trader all you have to do is win 51% of the time, right? So after taking a bunch of cassette investment courses and accumulating a lot of market knowledge

[07:09] I took ten grand and played with it in the market for a couple years and guess what I lost it all I wasn't dumb enough to lose it all at one time a loss here again there a loss here again there in the end It was gone biggest lesson. I learned from all that and was a great lesson It's the guys that sell the investment courses that make all the money The only way to consistently make money in the financial markets At least my experience tells me is to quit your day job and go into it full-time It's like horse racing playing the guitar or poker or getting into Photography oil paints or making artsy-fartsy stained glass windows. Yep. I did that too. I'm pretty good at it Everyone needs a hobby or ten whether it's growing organic strawberries raised in a flock of driveway chickens or building furniture

[07:55] Thing is if you only play around with it a half an hour a day, it'll just remain a hobby You'll never make a living at it unless you get really lucky and remember if it's a hobby you're supposed to be having fun Doing it right and losing money ain't no fun So that's why for me anyway after losing 10 grand I said no more of this if you're smart after a while you cut your losses Though I did know if I went full-time into any one of those endeavors I'd make a success of it, but there's nothing more boring than pouring over numbers and charts all day I'd rather those things remain hobbies not careers now after going through all that you might think because I got into crypto earlier I was just lucky it turns out it was a different kind of luck I was lucky because well before that I became an engineer so right off the bat I knew quite a bit about math and science and early on when I was introduced to the Bitcoin white paper Satoshi and all that

[08:45] Back in 2013. I had the basics to actually understand What was going on was way before the lamestream media or anybody on CNN or any of the market channels at all? Even the Wall Street Journal none of them gave it any print space or notice at all back Then it was just considered another nerdish kind of geeky gamer thing Meanwhile all us engineers and tech guys do exactly what potential the blockchain had the ability to change the entire finance system Back then the rest of the world the mainstream world if they reported on it at all they called it a Ponzi scheme But all of us who knew about it. We didn't care what they called it We knew it was based on extremely solid mathematics That's all that mattered to us because everything technological in the world Every device you use is based on solid mathematics and contrary to what those idiot spaz wokesters might say

[09:36] Mathematics even though it was invented by racist white men doesn't lie So back then when me and my smarter buddies got into the crypto thing We just followed the logic the math There was really no thought of it being some kind of competition to the stock or bond or options markets It was just a market asset that had huge upside potential that the rest of the financial world didn't give a shit about And even if it wasn't a Ponzi scheme, it was way too nerdy. They thought the investing public would never get it They'd never jump on that boat. Isn't it funny though being an engineer myself? I know a lot some very smart tech people I mean, that's who most of your buddies are if you're a tech guy or an engineer, you know Well, guess what? It's a fact that the smartest engineers and techies I know their first choice is not working at Google or Wall Street or anywhere in Silicon Valley

[10:21] Their first choice is crypto and blockchain. What does that mean? Well, of course, it means that's our future the blockchain and crypto and all the offshoots and the secondary effects that come with it Yeah there's lots of bad and stupid crap that have branched off of a tool like all those thousands of shit coins and DeFi projects have crashed and burned the stuff that triggered this latest crypto winner. So then what's my advice? What am I thinking? Here's my opinion about what's happening in the crypto space right now And it's not just my opinion guys a lot smarter than I am are thinking the same thing We're thinking some of you guys and gals have a big problem. You just don't see the big picture at all That's why you didn't get into crypto years ago when people first started talking about it You waited to get the kiss of approval from your friends and buddies or from those lame stream financial channels like CNN

[11:07] Even though millionaire investors never pick their winners based on what CNN says I think the public is way too bearish on the crypto market, but that's alright to me a contrarian That means it's time to buy you heard that saying I think it was Rothschild who said bye when there's blood in the streets Meanwhile, the lame Street media says sell the markets never coming back The talking head financial pundits are saying it's gonna go down even more on top of that You've got everyone afraid of what the feds gonna say or do Investors are waiting on every word from that idiot Jerome Powell. It's so artificial investing was never like that before You know following the lame Street news makes you very very short sighted It makes you too blind to see the big picture that crypto is gonna have another boom again There'll be another double a triple a 10x even more but 95% of people are thinking how much farther down

[11:58] Can it go? Well, you know if that's what you're thinking You're thinking like the average person and what does the average person do he loses money in the financial markets The average guy finishes last you know that if you're listening to this show you're not average But if you listen to the idiot financial pundits on CNN Yahoo finance and the Fed Then you are acting like the average person and again, I repeat the average person loses money in the market Here's the big picture. It's a guarantee that the next bull market in crypto is coming The next big wave is on its way So if you're holding crypto right now, the stupidest thing you could do is sell because you're scared or you're panicking That'll drop another 50% I doubt it'll do that. But even if it does if the worst-case downside is another 50% drop

[12:44] Let's say Bitcoin goes down to 10,000 and in the next bull run Let's say that happens in the six or eight months. It runs up five or 10x Let's just say 5x and that's super conservative if you're holding a Bitcoin now at $25,000 it drops down to ten You hold on to it through the next wave and it goes up to 50 you've made a hundred percent profit But if you sell at ten, well, you can see by the math. You're really screwed The thing is all you guys and gals out there who are depressed or panicking you're looking way too short-term You know long-term crypto holders have seen this kind of thing happen more than a dozen times before and after each of those crypto winters They could last a month six months a year Every single time 20 out of 20 cases in the next bull market run-up that reaches higher highs and higher lows

[13:31] So let me ask you this are you gonna fight that trend a trend that's repeated itself over a dozen times without fail The thing is if you're too focused on a short term if you're so scared about the Fed the Fed What are they gonna say tomorrow? What are they gonna say next week? Just remember in this brand new age of huge deficits inflation and interest rates at 40 year highs and getting worse and of course Governments downplaying and lying about that too The thing is the crypto market and maybe the precious metals market are the only two investment classes That appear to be close to sure things. They've got very little downside and unlimited upside potential That's what we can expect in a highly uncertain inflation and debt saturated future Oh, and now that all the crypto markets dumped with all those DeFi company bad hands being washed out

[14:19] You probably heard of those Celsius and a few others got blown out and the scare took the whole crypto market down with it Well now that those bad operators have been washed out the crypto skies are much clearer now Oh, and there's another important lesson you learn if you've been in it in a long time and newbies You never seem to get it in a crypto bull market You have to learn to take your profits a lot of people get all caught up in Wow. It's going up It's going up every day every day. It reaches a peak Crypto frenzy and then dumps again and there goes those fantastic profits. You were bragging to your friends about It was all paper profits. You never enjoyed or realized any of it. Oh God, I know so many people who've been through that ringer, you know, a good rule of thumb is this let's say you put $5,000 into Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano or one of the top ones for one thing

[15:06] don't look at the price every 10 minutes or you'll go nuts not even every hour or every day and Don't pay attention to the lame stream talking heads on CNN Yahoo finance or the Fed Don't let them rattle you you got to stay in for the long term Like I said unless you quit your day job and become a crypto day trader You're probably gonna lose money if you're moving in and out of the market You got to buy something and hold it for the long term six months a year two years five years Don't worry about the short-term move a good rule of thumb is let's say you've got five grand into Ethereum and it goes up 100% take your profits at least what you've got in as your initial investment let the rest ride It's all gravy from then on in don't do what many people I know have done Ride the wave up and not take a cent out and then when it drops kick yourself and continuously whine about it

[15:54] Now as this show first goes out on August 21st 2012 if you check out CNN Yahoo finance or any of the crypto Youtubers they're talking about being in a severe crypto winter bear market downturn They're saying in the next couple months. It'll drop even more. I say let them talk Let them babble on and if you got any crypto right now Selling would be crazy. In fact, I'd say it's a great buying opportunity But again, if you listen to any of the past shows where I've talked about crypto You'll know I say you should be in for the long haul buy a few of the best top rated coins something in the top five Bitcoin being your number one choice then just stick it in a hardware wallet a nano or a tresser Then shove it in a good hiding place I never thought it was a good idea to take your Bitcoin or other coins and stake them to get high interest rate payouts

[16:42] I always thought something was sleazy about that How can you get 10 or 15 or 20 percent interest when you can only get one or two percent in a traditional bank? I always thought that sounds kind of fishy. How do those DeFi companies? Give you that extra 15 20 percent return and then make money for themselves on top of it And since they were completely unregulated and unauditable any bad players or even over leveraging in those companies could bring them down and You as an investor if they were holding any of your coins and that's the way they do it That's called staking would be SOL and you know what that's exactly what happened and why we're in this crypto winter right now So what made me so smart? Well, I wasn't smart. I just kind of smelled a rat from the get-go In fact, I've had many discussions with some of my engineering and tech buddies even months and months ago And I wondered how can they offer such high rates of return?

[17:29] How they generating that no one could come up with a great answer now one of the other crypto questions I continually get from people is now that the altcoin market and otherwise known as a shitcoin market is down something like 95% in some cases more They asked me which all coins they should get into right now because some of them are gonna come back for sure They'll ride the wave in the next bull market and make a fortune for people Well, all of that's true, but I can't tell you which ones to invest in I've always kept away from those things myself and now in hindsight I look like a real smart guy, but it's just that again, I'll repeat I think you really can't make big money in the crypto market or any market that is as a day trader But unless you go into it full-time, you spend hours and hours each day Analyzing charts, etc. It's my contention not just mine

[18:16] So many of my smarter friends think so too The only way to consistently make big money in the next run-up is to just buy some of the solid Topcoins and hold them let them ride a year or two or three Even if you have just one Bitcoin, for example, some of the smartest engineers and tech guys I know are telling me just one Bitcoin now in three to five years, maybe less You'll never have to work again. Now. This is not investment advice It's just that I get so many emails about crypto I thought I had to address it sooner or later and today's the day I know that previous rant doesn't seem like it had anything to do with living in Latin America But thing is a very large percentage of plan B Expats and gonna be some wannabes are invested in crypto or at least have got a wallet and dipped her toes in the water

[19:02] Especially since El Salvador has gone all-in on crypto. That means you could buy food houses lots anything with crypto there Completely bypassing the amazingly bureaucratic banking systems that seem to be so obsessed with know your customer and money laundering rules forced on them by the US and international banking system that to do anything with cash or send wire transfers anywhere is a nightmare It's so ironic too since every Latin American politicians on the take and sucking from the public trough with middle and upper echelon politicals Senators dip your titles presidents vice presidents and cabinet members They shipped that stolen money to banks in the Cayman Islands, Panama Bahamas my jammy and elsewhere in the name of their friends relatives and co-conspirators and seemingly never get tagged

[19:49] Discovered or even prosecuted and this can't few that do get uncovered It's usually because one of their friends or cronies double crossed him and didn't get his cut then blabbed Yeah, right the banking system rips everyone else a new asshole But it's hands-off when it comes to those malignant scumbag politicians And you know, it makes me laugh when sitting and talking to gringles and expats and they're telling me how corrupt Latin American politicians are They just don't get it I always ask him if they voted for ovomit that man of the people who was making $60,000 a year as an, Illinois state senator and now latest estimates says he's worth a hundred and thirty two million dollars Look it up a couple years ago. They said it was 70 million now They're saying it's a hundred and thirty two million pretty damn good for a dyed-in-the-wool socialist

[20:37] huh a guy whose net worth increased a hundred X by just walking into the White House yet He remains a Nobel Prize winning every man's hero That is to the brainwashed public and to every liberal arts pseudo-intellectual on the public payroll. It seems that in the US Politicians don't even need to have hidden foreign bank accounts because when they walk into office They get sprayed by the woke media with the shiny Teflon coating Alright, let's dig into the email pile. Here's an interesting one from Margaret. She's been living in Panama two years She says Johnny I was recently divorced up in the States No kids and I decided to make a clean break of it and I moved to Panama I'm 44 years old and it didn't take long to enter into the mating and dating scene if you're a gringo lady down here

[21:23] You don't even have to try I've noticed my latina friends spent an hour in front of the mirror before they'll go out to the grocery store Not necessary for a gringo. You could go to the store in a mudpack rollers slippers and a housecoat and the guys will still Hit on you. I'm living in Panama City So the vast majority of people that come into contact with that grocery stores markets shopping centers commercial centers, etc Our business and working-class Latinos and Latinas I do see gringos here and there but I don't make much effort to talk to him because I speak Spanish Anyhow Johnny it was hard to get used to the fact that not a day goes by sometimes not an hour goes by when I'm out and about that I don't get hit on or propositioned or Solicited for my what's up number Johnny. I can't tell you how many times I've given out a fake phone number to some

[22:11] Persistent Latino guy. Some of them just won't take no for an answer I should explain that I am a fairly attractive smart-looking woman work out at the gym. I'm in very good shape for my age Oh and the gym Johnny, that's where I really get hit on I almost can't get through a workout without some guy coming up offering to help me Oh, and they always have such lame come-ons and pickup lines. I have green eyes. No big deal, right? You want to know how many times just last week? I heard how beautiful my green eyes are, you know, Johnny for the life of me I can't remember ever being complimented on in my eyes Not once the 42 years I lived in Denver, Colorado It started the very first day I landed at took him on Airport. It was nice hearing the first couple of times But now I'm just a little bit bored with it. It sounds funny to complain about such a thing, but it gets old

[22:56] Oh and the men here have such stale pickup lines opening lines pickup lines for me Are a qualifier if the guy can't come up with something unusual or different? I could be wrong, but I always figure he's a macho dummy. You're probably wondering now if I dated any of these guys Yes, I have now for my next complaint. They wear so much cologne With one guy was actually provoked into a sneezing jag. I've dated four or five guys in every one I went out with just doused himself with cologne. I guess it's the culture it's expected. They're not gonna change I suppose the ladies here like it my advice to American ladies dating Latinos here For Christmas and birthdays by my tie skip the cologne. They must have cabinets full at home funny thing, too

[23:44] I once discussed this cologne dousing thing with another American lady friend of mine at the gym Her dad's some kind of diplomat. He's at all kind of postings throughout Latin America So she lived her entire life in different Latin countries knowing what she knows she set me straight on the cologne thing She said historically most of Latin America has had a water problem Way too much water in the six-month rainy season and a water shortage the second half of the year That meant lots of baths and good hygiene during the rainy season and in the dry season Not so much. So the antidote especially for guys working outside or indoors with no AC Lots and lots of cheap cologne the custom has prevailed for a couple hundred years The French are and were excessive cologne users, too But now all the modern conveniences are here like AC and water 24 7

[24:32] Cologne dousing is no longer necessary, but the custom still lingers man. Does it linger? Alright, then she says not to be too down on the subject Some ladies like a guy whose smell is overpowering as long as it's a good brand and not the cheap hoary stuff Just my two cents. Johnny loved the show. However, I don't think I'll be staying in Panama long Things are really getting crazy here shortages locals block and roads. The natives want price controls on everything They already have price controls on at least 50 regular consumable items. Yes price controls Historically, that's always a last resort before a country slides into the abyss I've been here two years now and have never seen anything like it glad I didn't buy property here Almost did not looking good for the future. I love Latin America, but getting out of Panama soon

[25:21] Don't know where yet. I'm looking around. Please send me information on your upcoming seminar I understand it's gonna be in November a long-time listener and newbie expat sort of Margaret Alright market. Thanks for that interesting piece of advice for gringo ladies Interested in the mating and dating game here in Latin America specifically in her case Panama By the way, Margaret your email reminded me that I've been asked personally by a number of dating age Latinas over the years Why gringos wear so little cologne now, they're not saying gringos is stink. They're just saying we're neutral We've got no smell at least I think that's what they're saying. Most of us do clean up nicely You know even most backpackers which harks right back to what Margaret was saying Perhaps and you probably can make a graduate thesis paper hypothesis out of this

[26:10] Because I'm sure no one else has that latinas of dating age anyway are desensitized to cologne because they're men Clean their dad's brothers, etc Consistently douse themselves with the stuff in comparison as gringos would appear to not use this stuff at all I guess that answers the question why almost every gringo I know who has a latina girlfriend gets cologne for Christmas and birthdays hint hint Anyway, thanks for that little insight Margaret Yeah, I've been getting a lot of emails lately from people who like Panama, but don't see good things for the future Some like you Margaret are asking about my upcoming seminar Well this time it'll be in the Dominican Republic the DR from Friday November 5th through Friday November 11th a week long as usual it'll be half lecture half boots on the ground a mixture of the fire hose treatment and fun now if you sign up before

[26:57] September 15th you get in on the early bird discounts. It's $500 off the regular price For complete details and sign up info. Just go to expat plan B.com and click on the seminar link That's exp at planb .com and if you want to kill two birds with one stone you can combine it with a trip to that stem cell clinic I've been recommending you've got the option to do both people have been asking me about it So if you're considering it and or wondering how to put that together Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America If you need some help with your own plan B We can schedule a one-on-one phone or Skype consult just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com

[27:44] And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week-long expat Insider seminar in Central America where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan B Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com