#706 – The Expat Files: Halloween in Latin America and the Rise of Bitcoin

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 as I wander Hello there all you expat 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 All right. So this is Halloween week here in Latin America, too You know when there's any kind of holiday at all. It's not a holiday. It's a hollow week here in Latin America Just like every birthday turns out to be a birth week sometimes two weeks

[00:47] New Year's Day turns into New Year's Week and Christmas Day into Christmas week, but that's usually not enough So what becomes Christmas month? Anyway, the signs of Halloween are everywhere Even though I have to say 20 years ago. Most Latins didn't even know what Halloween was Well, they still don't actually know what it is But they celebrate it anyway because well, it's a gringo holiday and they do pick up on those things You know in a big way. Yep, and they're crazy about Black Friday, too Though they really don't know what that is either except to say Sears probably started it here in Latin America Sears being a first world transnational Transplant a couple years back. They started putting up those Black Friday signs and ads and now everybody seems to be doing it Anyway, this past week people have been Halloween crazy

[01:32] They even have pumpkin pie in the bakeries yet five years ago except on the gringo tourist trail Not a pumpkin pie to be found. So is it pumpkin or pumpkin pie? By the way, since orange jack-o'-lantern pumpkins are not grown here in Latin America They actually import them down here and people buy them and put them on their porches, too Though except for gringos taking a stab at it You almost never see a carved pumpkin down here and you'd think that Latinos would have added with a gusto since they're so good with machetes Even Latin ladies can wield those things with a lot of skill But they don't do they ask them why they don't and they say well They need someone to show them how they don't know where to start. Yeah, right Like there aren't 5,000 YouTube videos showing you exactly how

[02:18] But as a rule, letons just aren't that curious by the way, they do have big old pumpkins down here They're called Iotes, but they're not orange They're kind of a murky gray and not so colorful or Halloween like they're kind of dull and lifeless So forget about it. If you're thinking about carving up one of those So if you're down here around Halloween time, you'll see that gringo wannabe ism is alive and well Hmm. Is that even a word? Well, we'll pretend it is okay And actually the seeds of the Halloween event started in gringo-wise areas like Costa Rica Mexico the usual suspects and now believe it or not Even towns and cities way off the gringo tourist trail You see the pumpkins and skeletons and the orange and black decorations everywhere and another thing that never really existed

[03:05] 10 or 20 years ago and that would be costume shops now Of course down here in Latin America every little neighborhood has a pinata shop or two After all party wouldn't be a party here in Latin America without a pinata and oddly enough even in small towns The pinata shops are quite trendy they pay attention to what's popular and happening in first world media and the cinema and Somehow produce pinatas to that effect almost immediately oddly enough right before Halloween Some of the bigger pinata shops turn into costume shops, too But unlike most costume shops up in the States except ones that are located close to theater districts Down here in Latin America. You'll notice there's something strange happening when you walk in one of these places There will be ladies at sewing machines making up costumes from scratch

[03:55] That means if you walk into one of these places and rent a Wonder Woman pirate or I am a group costume It's almost never gonna come in pre-packaged form with a Made in China stamp on it It'll be a handmade piece of work sometimes a very nicely done piece of work and sometimes there's a piece of work That's pretty damn tacky. Hey, you know, some people have the touch some don't by the way here in Latin America Wonder Woman is called Mujer Marviosa. That actually translates to Marvelous woman which does not have a ring to it That's it. You do have to hand it to those little corner costume fabrication shops and why not Latin America is full of fantastic Textile workers and seamstresses. In fact, I'd say a good percentage of the stuff you have in your own closet was made in Latin America

[04:41] Yep, they certainly have the skills and there's a million and one old sewing machines laying around there everywhere I'll bet only one in 50 households up in the States has one and I'll bet the only one who knows how to use it Is grandma now down here. It seems like every family's got one tucked away Hey, and these are the good ones too You know the commercial brands that weigh a hundred pounds and last a hundred years Yep, and there are tons of those singer treadle sewing machines to talk about indestructible. Yep And no power necessary except foot power sewing machine heavy metal Nope, not an ounce of plastic on those things kind of like Detroit heavy metal in the old days So anyway, most of these pinata shops right around Halloween convert into costume shops by the way to buy a custom Wonder Woman Pope or I am a Groot costume will cost around 40 bucks and

[05:33] To rent one for a week about half that which means of course your average Latin will have to save up for a very Long time to be able to afford either one of those options Which is why when you pull up to one of those shops, you'll see a lot of double parked SUVs That would be the upscale Latin brigade along with their pot-bellied bodyguards Oh and as for the poor and even the average Latin kid, there is no trick-or-treating at night They'll do that in school, but the neighborhoods they live in are just a little dangerous to do that kind of stuff However, those upscale kids in gated guarded communities will trick-or-treat in their little compounds Now I mentioned that at those shops most costumes are handmade, right? Well, those cheap and badly made Chinese costumes have made it down here, too Why wouldn't they they've got Walmart Costco and dollar stores here, too

[06:19] So tis the season and there's plenty of that junk around now since Latins are so big on parties with pinatas and all that That means there's always been a big demand for party supplies So if you're gonna have a specialty or theme party yourself, there's no need to order that stuff from Amazon They got plenty of party supply stores here And you know since Latins are particularly festive They have all kinds of parties on weekends and such That means the table chair and tent rental businesses are booming now being that Latinos are some of the partyingist people ever That means unless you're anti-social or you just exclusively hang around with a bunch of boring stick-in-the-mud Gringos you're gonna get invited to a lot of local parties I'm talking about family parties where women almost never drink and guys might drink but they don't get drunk and sloppy

[07:09] Like they do at discos soccer games and where the booze is free So you will get invited to some neighborhood events birthday parties anniversaries can say annual parties even the occasional homecoming party and when that's occurring with a Miller lower middle-class family That's usually a thinly disguised homecoming deportation party Though it's implied. It's never really mentioned. Hey Johnny, you invited to Juanito's homecoming party He's back after three long years living the sueño Americano the American dream Lots and lots of ad-hoc weekend parties like that Especially since Trump's been president though with high-end Latin families, you'll never see a party like that They have enough resources and social standing that they can visit my jammy Disney World

[07:56] What about York and took son on a real legal visa? Alright moving on you know last week when I announced that Bitcoin Dan will be speaking at my upcoming January 2018 expat insider seminar I got a slew of emails saying Johnny I know you've been talking about Bitcoin for three or four years now The reality is there's so much new stuff out there since the crypto thing began. It's confusing You've got things like the blockchain itself Bitcoin credit cards, I see Oh's crypto exchanges treasures paper wallets soft and hard forks to as one guy said his email they might as well be Knives and spoons for all I know yet another guy actually a lady said in her email Johnny You know, I really want to invest in the crypto currencies But as soon as I think I've got kind of a handle on what's going on something else comes up country bans it and other embraces it

[08:48] I'm just glad that you're having a real Bitcoin expert at your seminar One I could sit down and talk to face-to-face and fire my questions at Problem is all of us are getting our crypto information off of blogs and youtubes That means the information is flowing one way only we never get to ask our questions. Yes. It's me again, Johnny Yes, I get emails like that all the time and Bitcoin Dan our resident crypto guru will be giving a segment at the seminar Meanwhile, everyone wants to know a little bit more about Bitcoin Dan Well, he came down from Canada driving a Winnebago style trailer came to my second seminar and never left By the way for a few years. He worked at Microsoft. They fly him in from Montreal to Seattle every week Then he quit to start his own software business. And now he has over a million and a half customers

[09:37] By the way with a million and a half clients, you know, how many employees he has in his company to him and another guy Is that not amazing? Anyway, he left Canada came down to my seminar and moved here permanently because he's a libertarian And can't stand living under the thumb of big brother. Anyway after the seminar He didn't have a rental or a house yet And he asked me if he could temporarily park his trailer in front of my place far away from everything deep in the coffee fields So nice guy that I am Sometimes I said, okay Dan because I already realized he was a very nice honest brilliant and extremely interesting guy But you know the old saying about visitors and fish So I said Dan how long do you expect to be in front of my house?

[10:23] He said well, I'll be looking for a rental. So probably three weeks to a month And of course best laid plans and all that it turned into three four. Maybe it was five months Can't remember by the way Let me repeat Dan was the first person in the world to teach a Bitcoin slash Cryptocurrency course in an accredited university. He still does and to standing room only Anyway four or five years ago for a few months. I saw Dan every single day He was living right outside my front door and every once in a while I noticed that two three even four in the morning a little light on in his trailer. What was Dan doing? I asked him and he told me he was putting in by orders for this stuff called Bitcoin You got to remember back then the Bitcoin community was very very small almost exclusively nerds and gamers

[11:09] And in the normal world, there was virtually zero publicity about it So every night he was sitting out there buying little blocks of Bitcoin I believe he accumulated a few thousand of them at a price between I think it was six to fifty bucks each And a Bitcoin today is worth what well over six thousand bucks So you do the math now if we're lucky Dan might also tell us about a Bitcoin scam He got involved in he lost quite a few bitcoins a small fortune that way when he got involved with then you might find It's hard to believe a Canadian con artist So maybe we'll try to get Dan to tell us that story if it's not too painful for him because you know Being that Dan is way too smart to ever have a hacker get in and steal any of his bitcoins

[11:55] That would never happen, but to be gouged by a slick talking con man That's another thing that can happen anyone ever happen to you speaking of con man Hey, did you see in the news just a week or so ago that almost happened to Richard Branson? You know the guy that owns Virgin Airways The guy who has his own island that got knocked out completely during the hurricane that hit Puerto Rico You probably saw him he's been all over the news lately in the end luckily enough He didn't get sucked into the scam, but one of his friends did and he got hit for a couple million Well that proves the point right the fact is anyone who's ever been conned will tell you they never met a con man They didn't like at least at first. That's part of the process You know the word con is short for confidence. They get you in their confidence, but I digress

[12:43] Anyway, I can think of no better way to get yourself completely boned up on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin then to come to my January 2018 expat insider seminar and man If you really want to meet some like-minded people a seminar is the place to be You know the sad thing is the majority of people who come down to the seminar Tell me they've got really no one up where they live to talk to about such serious things as big brother the bankrupt state funny money loss of privacy big pharma the upcoming reset and whatever form it's gonna take and All those teetering tipping points we all know so well the problem is astute Intelligent people up in the States really can't talk about that stuff. Well. You know what happens when you do meanwhile our seminar attendees

[13:29] Are almost all on the same page they get it That's why they come down and you can too and you still can take advantage of those early bird discounts just go to the new expat comm and click on the seminar link and while you're there don't forget to check out those famous John Galt pre and post seminar trips And you'll also see how to kill two birds with one stone that is if you're thinking about coming down to the seminar and applying For your temporary or permanent Guatemala residency at the same time I know some of you just can't make it down you can't swing it Well the next best thing to get you going on your own plan B is to take my expat essentials course Yep, it's my very own 9-hour video course check it out at expat plan B comm and how about something valuable and free? Those two don't often go together

[14:16] You know do go to the new expat comm website and download my free phone consultation questionnaire form All right, I'm sure you're wondering now. Why am I talking about all this Bitcoin stuff? What's it got to do with Latin America? Well a lot mostly because it's a way to transfer your money and assets around pretty much anonymously And wouldn't you know it Gringo's and expats are really into it in fact most Latin countries have a nice solid Gringo slash expat Bitcoin community going yep. We got it down All right probably better than anyone you know in your neighborhood isn't that funny you have to go to a Latin country to really learn? About Bitcoin that's because down here governments have no way of dealing with it. They're so disorganized They can't even keep the municipal water supply on

[15:01] 24-7 not to mention throughout Latin America the cops have to buy their own bullets their radios don't work And they don't even have gas for their cars Oh, and did you know it's quite common for Latin countries to run out of drivers licenses and passports yep? I've read notices in Latin papers saying don't come in and get your passport for two months because we're out That's why they call it the third world man So you think these latin lard ass government pukes will try to regulate Bitcoin and crypto? What a joke sure they could try to make it illegal they've tried to do that in Venezuela But it only made the Bitcoin community stronger bigger and more popular and the 19 other Latin countries They're not even thinking about it. It's nowhere on their radar get this talking of Bitcoin Dan just this morning turns out

[15:50] He was at a party recently talking to a 40-something executive latina accountant She told him she'd been working for years in a latin country central bank You know that's like the US Treasury Department They control a country's funny money debt reserves and bond issues and such and she told him that just last week They had a big day long all-important conference the topic get this Bitcoin and the blockchain Turns out she said and she would know Every latin american central bank is scrambling and having similar conferences So they have some idea at least what bitcoin and blockchain Technology are all about what kind of threats they might pose to traditional banking and government financial systems

[16:38] So there's a kind of a fear and panic amongst central bankers that we only hear about in snippets in news articles on the web Meanwhile behind closed doors banks and government monopolies are scared poopless So in the midst of never-ending bad news, there is light at the end of the tunnel Bitcoin cryptos and the blockchain are slowly but surely Driving a stake into the heart of a totally corrupt funny money world, but you knew that array, right? Now if you're wondering the reason why today I'm spending so much time on Bitcoin is because I'm getting a deluge of emails From people saying hey look Johnny. I think I can get my ass out of the country Okay, but how do I get my assets out without actually having to do wire transfers and opening banking counts and such?

[17:24] I hear it's impossible or virtually impossible for a gringo or an expat to open a bank account Unless he's got temporary or permanent residency, which could take a while or he's got a lawyer to front for him Well, that's true You know if you come down here knowing a little bit of Spanish thinking you're gonna do that all yourself Well, you're in for a long haul and to get a bank account doing things your own way that could take months Yep, there was a time if you did know your Spanish pretty well, you could do all that yourself But you just can't do it anymore Your lawyer will have to hold your hand through a lot of that stuff. But as far as moving money around Well, let's talk Bitcoin just for a second again By the way, I get emails all the time from people saying Johnny I could kick myself for not getting into Bitcoin. It's way too expensive now. They say it's in a bubble

[18:12] They've lost out and then I tell them I wouldn't be kicking myself just yet According to a lot of good information. We got a long run ahead of us, which brings me to this next email From a previous expat insider a seminar attendee. Hey Johnny I'm just now in a position to do something with Cryptocurrencies do your sources feel that Bitcoin could very possibly go to eight nine or ten thousand or Do they expect a significant drop temporarily? Which of course would be a good time for me to buy in the meantime I heard a lot of positive reports on Dash and Litecoin. Would you recommend investing in either of those? Then he says the heavy taxes on catching Bitcoin for dollars seems like it'll most likely continue

[18:58] Even when our US dollar dies and a new system is somewhat put into place It appears that simply holding and buying with Bitcoin or other currencies will continue to be the best protocol What are your thoughts on this? By the way, he says I'm planning the big move next year and I'll be joining the ranks of repeat offenders at your upcoming seminar Again, thanks a lot for the great shows you produce and look forward to seeing you in the new year Sign the altiplano drifter. All right. Thanks for that drifter glad to have you back as a seminar repeat offender You know, we do get repeat offenders all the time and I also get emails from people saying Johnny Why do people keep repeating your seminar? Well, you know, that's the kind of question that could only be answered by coming down to the seminar And finding out for yourself

[19:45] Alright getting back to the questions and comments from our altiplano drifter Obviously, he's gonna get those questions and a lot more answered by Bitcoin Dan at the seminar However, I will pass on some info from Bitcoin Dan on some of the other very popular cryptocurrencies Suffice it to say he's very positive on Bitcoin at least for the next couple of years And if you're down here for this seminar, he'll explain what he thinks is gonna happen after that He's also and this is gonna surprise the hell out of you very negative on Ethereum whoa If you search the net you'll see most everyone loves it and he also comes down pretty hard on a lot of the other cryptos He has some very good reasons too and he'll explain that at seminar now He did say aetherium is some of the other ones that he knows are gonna be a bust

[20:33] Will nevertheless be pulled into the stratosphere while riding this crypto wave or mania? Whatever you want to call it. So he says in the short and medium term all boats will rise with a tide Even the ones that really suck, but we'll see in the medium and long term. Most of the Emperor's have no clothes Which is true for the vast majority of ICOs, too Now a lot of people say it's a bubble and they compare it to the dot-com bubble of the turn of the century Now if you remember in the short and medium term all boats rose with a tide in that situation, too Then came the day of reckoning and only about one out of 20 of those companies survived So yes for a while. Anyway, you should be able to ride the blockchain wave No matter what kind of crypto you're in but there will be a day of reckoning and only a few will survive

[21:23] And when's all that gonna play out? Well Bitcoin Dan will fill us in on that by the way Just one more thing about aetherium. It's getting all kinds of press lately because so many ICOs are being opened up with the stuff Anyway, Bitcoin Dan showed me and some others and no uncertain terms why aetherium can do nothing but go belly up So why are people not picking up on the real truth of aetherium? How come no one out there in YouTube and blogland are talking about fatal flaws? And you know, it's not that Bitcoin doesn't have a few fatal flaws to according to Dan It does but I've been told it won't play itself out till many more coins are mined again. I'm not the expert I only have bits and pieces of the puzzle and we'll have to let Dan explain all that at the seminar

[22:09] Oh, and did you notice in his email the altipliner drifter mentioned the US taxing Bitcoin profits Now there's an uncertain and convoluted subject if I've ever heard one here We've got all these new monetary units out there in the ether They can be transferred anywhere cross borders in a millisecond Banks hate the thought of them because they're poised to put them out of business and governments have a love-hate relationship They hate them because they make the funny money currency less and less viable But they see if they can figure out a way to tax them Well, there's a huge windfall there, right which is why I'm putting together a little report right now That talks all about taxes and cryptocurrency Which will be ready for my seminar group by the time it gets underway You know as far as taxing cryptos, there are a lot of questions. For example, what happens when your crypto rises?

[22:59] It's a capital gain, right? But if you don't actually turn it into a regular funny money currency It's deferred or not even crazier. What about when crypto currencies fork then you've got two currencies, but they're different For example when Bitcoin forked into Bitcoin cash for every Bitcoin you had before the fork you got one of Bitcoin cash Now suppose you haven't converted it into a funny money currency Just left it in your Bitcoin wallet Bitcoin cash is not really Bitcoin anymore. It's a completely different animal So if you live in the States or pay US taxes, anyway, you definitely have some kind of tax Consequences when there's a cryptocurrency fork and what happens? For example, if you turn all your ethereum or litecoin into Bitcoin or vice versa

[23:45] Would the US tax man treat that as if you were trading a stock for another stock? What about long and short term capital gains? What about gifting your kids Bitcoin? Would that be like gifting your kids some stock? Well, it really does look like the perfect opportunity for the US tax authorities to dump another five or ten thousand pages into the US Tax law however They also are very aware of the fact that this stuff is in the ether and you're on your honor most of the time To report such things and unless you give them permission They really have no way of accessing your personal files on your crypto currencies So the problem for them is if they make the taxation rules too tough on cryptocurrency holders That'll incentivize more and more people that just not report them at all because they know with crypto

[24:35] It's so easy to stay off the grid So as you can see in the world of cryptocurrency the next few years are gonna be very interesting indeed Oh, and of course, I get questions all the time from people saying look Johnny. I want to buy something with my Bitcoin How do I switch it into cash if I don't have a US bank account, you know There are at least 10 companies out there who offer visa Bitcoin debit cards. Yep. They say visa on them They don't say Bitcoin. So they're accepted anywhere a visa card would be accepted Which means you could go to any ATM and suck out a couple hundred bucks a day And if you're in a foreign country, you could take out US dollars euros or the local funny money in that amount to Lempirus pesos doubloons, whatever, of course more and more establishments are accepting Bitcoin directly

[25:21] But do check out those visa Bitcoin debit cards By the way as of a few weeks ago for Bitcoin visa debit cards all originating in Europe are now Refusing to accept US citizens as clients figures, huh? Just like offshore and foreign banks don't want US customers either unless of course you're a legal resident And you know, it's all because of those fat gun gatka Banking laws that the US has forced on practically every country, you know And if you're a country or bank that doesn't comply you can't be involved in the international swift wire transfer systems Which by the way all go through New York banks. Talk about ironies That's exactly the system that Bitcoin and all the other cryptos defeat No swift system or US bank involvement at all, which is why they all hate Bitcoin and crypto

[26:09] Ain't it a shame with crypto? There's no middleman taking a chunk of every wire transfer Slogging through the system and you know wire transfer fees these days are between 30 and 70 bucks And the fees for sending Bitcoin and other cryptos way under a buck So bottom line if you have to change your crypto or Bitcoin into US dollars or whatever You can do it with a Bitcoin Visa card at an ATM or a bank or as you'll find especially here in Latin America There are little Bitcoin and crypto kiosks popping up in many big cities and you can walk in and change your Bitcoin Directly into funny money and vice versa Just goes to show when there's demand. There's always a niche and a way for someone to make money So it's true Every Latin country has a nice Bitcoin community and they'll tell you where those little kiosks are in fact

[26:57] I know of one within walking distance of where will be the first couple days of the seminar there You could change crypto for dollars euros or local funny money and vice versa. However, they do take a hefty fee I believe it's nine percent, but people are using it However, don't let that scare you when you're the first and the only game in town You can charge anything you want But as soon as the competition piles in and it will you can look forward to a big drop in those fees So bottom line every day more and more people are getting into the crypto act. How about it? Are you? South of the border This is the expat files living in Latin America If you want me to help you out with your own plan B Just schedule a one-on-one consult send me an email the expat files at gmail.com

[27:45] And if you want to learn how to move forward with your own plan B from right up there in the states go to www.xpatplanb.com and check out my three videos. See ya nos vemos