#748 – The Expat Files: Crypto, Culture, and Residency 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 out to play And now that I wonder 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 You know since many of us gringos and expats here in Latin America are on the cutting edge of things At least some things like for example crypto currencies That's where a lot of gringos and expats with time on their hands who want to make some money have found their niche here in Latin America I mean come on where else could you sit in the comfort of your own home

[00:48] With just a computer and some extra tech and without any employees at all Make money 24-7 I'm talking about crypto mining now And you know ever since I started talking about crypto something like five years ago now When Bitcoin was the only cryptocurrency before the thousands of other coins, the forks, even the ICOs In fact I think five years ago when I first started mentioning Bitcoin it was at around 40 bucks Anyway you all know that I mention cryptos and what's happening in the crypto space down here in Latin America Once in a while Don't get too heavy into it because it really is a niche Though I do get questions about it all the time People are dying to get into it And you know because of all the interest at my last Expat Insiders seminar I introduced a two hour cryptocurrency segment With the first hour presentation given by the likes of none other than the famous Bitcoin Dan

[01:37] And the second hour given by our famous miner in chief Expat Oscar who's been mining cryptos for years and years before anybody even heard of crypto mining In fact before 99% of the world even heard of cryptos Talk about a guy with unparalleled mining experience He was mining Bitcoin again when there was only Bitcoin No ICOs, no forks, no other altcoins of any kind And for those of you who don't know what an ICO is, that's Initial Coin Offering It's kind of a mix of what you might call crypto crowdfunding and a crypto stock market ICOs, Initial Coin Offerings are a little bit of both Though most of them completely and 100% worthless And get this, when the word got out I was going to have these two expert crypto expats Give presentations at my last seminar that was January 2018

[02:24] Well wouldn't you know it, I started getting all kinds of calls and requests From gringos and expats living in the immediate vicinity Anyway all of a sudden people who weren't signed up for the seminar started calling me Asking me if they could sit in for those presentations And others who didn't contact me just kind of showed up that day By the way I wasn't too happy about that Needless to say there was standing room only in the conference room Talk about a popular topic on steroids, wow Anyway if the volume of the emails I've been getting lately on crypto and the crypto space Here in Latin America is any indication I have to conclude that I've got just about the smartest group of listeners you could ever hope to have Now just a year or so ago, top subjects on people's minds That is the most email volume I get were in the area of number one

[03:12] Healthcare, number two, the housing and rental situation in Latin America Three, safety and security And number four, mating and dating and generally the hookup scene here in Latin America Oh and don't forget that I get tons of emails from people asking me about How expats can find their niche and make money here too Meanwhile in the past year like never before man have I been getting the emails about cryptos Which is why I just have to read you this one that came in yesterday I tell you it's long, it's a marathon As usual I'll condense and paraphrase and add my comments whether they're needed or not By the way, he sent me this email encrypted through Hushmail So, you know, he's a real anonymous guy And rightfully so when you hear what he's got to say He says, dear Johnny, I'm encrypting this email to you

[04:00] Because I'm one of those newly minted Bitcoin millionaires that doesn't want anybody to know it Then he says yes, even though cryptos have had a bad month or two, I'm solidly in the seven figures Love the show been a loyal listener for years Even when I was sequestered away in my mom's basement writing software And I couldn't even afford extra pineapple on my Domino's pizza Alright, it's me Johnny again I strongly object to anyone who'd put pineapple on their pizza Hawaiian pizza? They call it Hawayana pizza down here Give me a break Have you ever been to Italy specifically Naples or Napoli where pizza was invented? If you have, you'll find pizzerias on every corner and none of them Offering pineapple because that's a sacrilege in Italy

[04:45] In fact, if you were to request pineapple You'll see the face of the waiter shrivel up and discuss Pineapple on pizza, man How about some maple syrup on your fish filet? Yuck Meanwhile here in Latin America, the second most requested pizza topping after pepperoni is Ugh Pineapple Piña But I digress, as usual Anyway, our Bitcoin millionaire goes on to say Everybody's talking about the crypto and Bitcoin crash that happened in the last month He says I'm getting people haranguing me about it too I'm talking about my friends and family Who never got in cryptos a couple years back when they were so dirt cheap And then zoom, suddenly they all went in But not on my suggestion, they had to hear it from someone else You're never a hero in your own hometown or even in your basement

[05:33] So some of them did get in late at much higher prices So they're all worried as hell How much lower can it go? And as for me, in the memorable words of Alfred E. Newman What? Me worry? In fact, I'm in the front seat ready to ride the roller coaster again And this time it looks like there's another bull run coming I really believe, and I've got lots of good sources And I'm not going to go into right now That we're going to hit that second boom very shortly And if we all are wrong about Bitcoin and crypto He says you might lose a few grand in US dollars If that's what you put in And that's what I put in in the early days Not enough to wipe me out if it all went bust But then again I've got my safety net, my parents basement Yep, he says if we're all wrong about this crypto business

[06:20] We might lose a few grand But boy, if we're right And just for your information, we are All those sorry, short and fried asses who are laughing at us now Will be miserable for the rest of their lives From now on, at every party you go to There'll be someone talking about the crypto fortune he made Or the one that got away You know, no one likes to see their friends get rich While they're sitting on the sidelines Oh, but they'll tell you how happy they are for your success Don't believe it They just as soon see you get hit by a truck By the way, Johnny, like so many of the gringos and expats you talk about That have plan B's and are actually going through with it I too have unsubscribed from the Ponzi scheme called the US dollar And remember, cryptos were intended to be a hedge against fiat dollar collapse

[07:10] Where else could the dollar go but down? And you know, and I'm preaching to the choir here There hasn't been a single fiat currency in all history That didn't eventually go down to zero So what makes people think the US dollar can operate contrary to the laws of fiat nature? Meanwhile, since 1913 and the creation of the Federal Reserve The US dollar has lost 97% of its purchasing power Ask a math or statistician to read that chart And he'll tell you it's a hop, skip, and a jump away from Do I have to say it? Toilet paper Oh, and for all the people that say government regulations are going to kill crypto Well, the cryptos, specifically Bitcoin, have been pronounced dead at least 20 times Have a look at the price charts over the last five years

[07:57] They're available on the net How about these examples? In June through November 2011, Bitcoin dropped 94% And the US, I mean mass media, pronounced it dead In June 2012, it dropped 36% And media financial pundits said it was dead In April 2013, 79% Again, it was pronounced dead And from November 2013 to January 2015, it dropped another 87% Dead again In February 2014, it dropped another 49% Another 40% in September 2017 Sure, in the last few months, we've had more than a 60% correction How depressing is that, especially if you just got in and lost some dough I say console yourself with the historic charts

[08:43] You'll see that's happened at least six or seven times since the start of Bitcoin Yep, I said six or seven times That means it happens fairly regularly, so get used to it Yet every time it recovered and reached new highs, massive new highs Just have a look at Bitcoin's historic charts It's been around the longest It doesn't really give a damn about government regulations Oh sure, every time I corrupt a big-wig Wall Street giant Like Jamie Dimon or Soros says it's a scam or whatever The cryptos take a hit Because markets are fueled partly by emotion and psychology So ever since Bitcoin's conception, governments have been gunning for it Banks have been gunning for it Why? Because they've got the most to lose And now, there's something like 2,000 shitcoins gunning for Bitcoin too

[09:29] And Johnny, if you read this on the air, you can call them poop coins if you want Still, Bitcoin, the mothership just won't die Oh and Johnny, here's an important point I wish someone would make Regarding the ever-confusing nature of online wallets, hard-wared wallets, and paper wallets He says, Johnny, I wish you, we, or someone could dissuade the public of the idea That you're actually storing your Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in an online exchange platform Like Coinbase or BitPay, or in a paper wallet, or even in a hardware wallet like Trezor or Nanoleger That's just not true, and I'll repeat this The fact is, every Bitcoin and all altcoins, meaning shitcoins, are stored on the blockchain

[10:18] Not in your so-called wallet, whatever kind of wallet it is Note, again, it's only that your private keys, that is your 12 or 24 word password sequence, are in that wallet So you have access to them Meanwhile, your Bitcoins or any of your cryptos are sitting on the blockchain So I want everyone to burn this into their head Remember, if you're having a conversation with someone who thinks he knows about Bitcoin or altcoins AKA shitcoins He sounds like he knows what he's talking about He's peppering the conversation with all the catchphrases and blockchain crypto jargon You know, this crypto stuff is so new You pepper your conversation with enough crypto terms, people think you're a genius So, when you run into a guy like that, or could be a girl, no matter how convincing he sounds

[11:08] If he or she thinks his coins are in a wallet like US dollars in a billfold He's ill-informed and should not be counted on for good crypto advice Oh, and Johnny, there's another big misconception out there It's that all cryptos, Bitcoin and all the other shitcoins, are on the blockchain Well, they are on the blockchain, but they have their individual blockchains And never the twain shall meet In other words, Bitcoin has its own blockchain, Litecoin, Ethereum, Doggycoin, all of them Their own blockchains You can never mix one with the other In other words, as some misinformed people think There's one big blockchain out there and all the cryptos are on it No, not true There's 2000 plus coins out there and all of them have their own individual blockchain

[11:58] Now, if you're a software guy or a software pro And you look at those individual blockchains, you'll see they all look almost exactly alike We're speaking about the lines of software now that make up the blockchain code So a good software guy, a programmer, will see that 99% of the time Most all the altcoins will look exactly like the code for the Bitcoin blockchain So almost all the 2000 plus shitcoins took the Bitcoin model and tweaked it a tiny bit to create their coin So if you look at an altcoins blockchain code, it might be a couple hundred lines long With only one or two lines different from that of Bitcoin However, there are a few altcoins like Ethereum With blockchains and software that differ significantly from Bitcoin In Ethereum's case, they've got a more sophisticated code

[12:45] To allow their blockchain to handle smart contracts Oh, and as for those Ethereum smart contracts, which everyone's talking about Well, the problem is everyone who's ever tried to do one has found they do not work well at all Too many steps, too many things to go wrong Just too complicated and too many ways to screw up as you're composing the thing However, the hype is there and it's extreme The idea is certainly great and everyone who's never attempted it yet Seem to think it's the greatest thing since Netflix They'll find out Though it's a sure bet for the future, smart contracts will be the thing The software will get tweaked and the bugs worked out of it Except it will not happen with Ethereum It'll be based on some other altcoin or coins

[13:30] The thing is, Johnny, crypto is a complex subject Covering cryptography, software engineering, market forces, economics, and psychology In fact, I'd say that probably 80% of the people that are in it Don't have a clear picture of how it works and the implications Unfortunately, most people have a superficial understanding And if you haven't got much of a science, analytic, or computer background Or even an economics and accounting background You really have no desire to understand the nitty gritty If you take an aspirin, you just want to get rid of the headache You don't care about the mechanism of action And when it comes to crypto coins, people just want in Because they see others making money and feel pissed off that they missed the boat There will be boat number two and it's coming shortly A rising tide lifts all shit coins

[14:17] Even though most of them are worthless junk Meanwhile, you got every ass, I mean mass media type screaming about money laundering Money laundering, the world's most potent enabler by far is the US dollar Ever notice when there's a huge photo op drug bust on TV There's all those FBI types around congratulating themselves The place is littered with AKs and ammo Next to countless bricks of pot cocaine and heroin And always gigantic bails of US dollars Plain loads of them And in some parts of the world, like in Afghanistan, where all the poppies come from For payment, they accept US dollars, euros, gold, and diamonds And enriched uranium if that's available Did anyone hear the word crypto mentioned on that list?

[15:03] So the ass, I mean mass media, is technically correct When they call out Bitcoin and the cryptos Having potential to be used for money laundering And I'm sure there's a certain amount of that But what governments and banks won't tell you Is that their motivation to kill the cryptos is because the US government And the banks do not want the extra competition Cutting into their own money laundering operations So let's see We've got the total world derivative market at around $900 trillion The global bond markets at around $200 trillion And the cryptocurrency market including all the altcoins Less than $500 billion So worldwide you've got the derivative scam 2,000 times as big as the crypto market

[15:49] 2,000 times And the global bond market is 400 times bigger than the crypto market So then who are the liars, cheaters, frauds, and money launderers here? Governments, banks, or cryptos Oh and people talk about frauds and hacking in the crypto market Specifically with Bitcoin and that company called Motcocks You heard of them? Let's see, Bitcoin's been running non-stop for nine years now With zero financial loss on the blockchain It is the most reliable and secure financial network in the world Meanwhile, banks with their rip-off, wire transfer, and swift services Take two days to clear But then people say, what about the Motcocks, fraud, and hack a few years back? If you remember, Motcocks was one of the early crypto exchanges

[16:37] Like Coinbase or Bitpay as today And you know, Johnny, it's an absolute perfect example Why you should never ever have your crypto private keys in one of those exchanges At least not for long Though occasionally you will need to use them Especially if you're trading cryptos or you have a debit card But don't ever leave substantial amounts there for extended periods of time Do your transactions and switch the remainder into your hardware or paper wallet Like gold and silver, you should never let anyone else hold it It's really not yours unless you take possession And possession is nine-tenths of the law, they say Though when it comes to cryptos, possession is ten-tenths of the law As long as you control your private keys in your own hardware or paper wallet

[17:25] They're always and forever your coins Unless you're momentarily stupid And there's a lot of cases out there where very smart people have been momentarily stupid You've heard the phrase, stupid in love, haven't you? Well, there's stupid in crypto, too By the way, Johnny, if you want my opinion on shitcoins, that is, other altcoins Then he says, I have some of those, too, but only a select few They're ones that are in the top ten of the crypto market cap He says, for those people out there, forever promoting other types of cryptos He says he gets at least three or four pop-up windows a day on his screen offering new coins As well as pop-up windows for new ICOs connected to a particular new crypto I get those, too, don't you? Rather annoying, huh? Then he says, never forget that 95% of the altcoin market are mostly also ran coins that shoot up in value

[18:16] Because the gold standard Bitcoin shoots up And most drop when Bitcoin drops in value, too That's the only reason most altcoins have such a high value And you should be happy that Bitcoin dragged everything else up Including your flavor of the week shitcoin Not you, Johnny, I mean the collective you Then he closes out by saying, Johnny, if you want my advice, and these days everyone wants my advice And it's funny how not so long ago no one paid attention to me I was virtually ignored I mean, back when I was pulling all-nighters in mama's basement Writing software, chugging red bulls, and ordering a pizza with extra pineapple when I could afford it And as far as my opinion on crypto mining, there's no real mystery to it Unless you're on the outside looking in

[19:03] Then it seems like kind of a black art People think you have to be a geek or a techie, not true The main thing is patience You just have to buy the cards, the hardware for yourself Or pay for a contract with an online miner But since it's a big unregulated business now, there are lots of scammers out there, too So my suggestion, yes, do get into mining But learn your mining tricks of the trade from another person who's mining It's all up there on YouTube, so have a look Or like you say, Johnny, you'll be reinventing the wheel and falling in the same potholes So the key here is to make friends with a miner All right, that long and very cool email came from Well, I can't tell you who it came from But he says he's coming to my next seminar, so perhaps you'll meet him Speaking of my upcoming Expat Insider seminar

[19:48] Once again, it'll be taking place in and around Guatemala, Central America Starting on Saturday, July 7th, and ending on Thursday, July 12th For complete info, sign up details and how to get those early bird discounts Just go to www.thenewexpat.com and click on Johnny's seminar link And once again, if you come down to the seminar, don't forget about those John Galt pre and post seminar tours Especially if you're thinking about finding a particular business niche Or if you're thinking about exporting or selling some of the very cool, locally made products Oh, and one more thing, if you come down, you could also kill two birds at one stone By starting your temporary or permanent residency in Guatemala Still, one of the easiest, least expensive and least complicated of the residency programs In all the Latin countries

[20:34] But things change, and they change fast So you better get on it before that window of opportunity closes Believe me, lately, every Latin country is throwing up more and more barriers to residency Especially in the wake of the collapse of Venezuela and the mass exodus of people out of that country So restrictions are getting tighter and the barriers are coming up So if you're looking to get in on one of the best residency programs leading to a passport nationality You really have to act now So read all about it and get the details on the seminar link at www.thenewexpat.com Alright, since this show seems to be all about Bitcoins, crypto and mining and such I have to tell you, the other day I was sitting around with some very smart guys Two of them were miners Another, a very smart guy thinking about going into mining

[21:19] And there was a smart young lady there, too Sucking up all that esoteric information that you're just not going to get anywhere else And I have to tell you, people are always asking me, too Which cryptos they should be buying or selling or shifting in and out of Well, I'm certainly not the expert, but I listen to all these smart guys And I heard Expat Oscar, who's pretty much a walking, talking encyclopedia When it comes to mining cryptos Since, as mentioned before, he's been doing it from the very onset of Bitcoin When there were no other coins or forks or anything In fact, these days he's not mining Bitcoin at all He's mining a lot of the altcoins Because, as he says, they offer better and faster return on your money He says many of the alt slash poop coins were developed simply to make it easier for the little guy at home to mine them That is, without buying a hell of a lot of expensive equipment

[22:07] Just basically using a PC, a power supply and some slightly altered gaming cards So we're sitting at the table having this long crypto mining conversation And somebody piped up and said, mining seems like a pretty big risk What about buying straight cryptos? Then Expat Oscar said, there's a second boom coming And if anyone wants to make a million bucks, he said, you go on one of the exchanges and you buy one Bitcoin I think that day it was around 10,000 Then he says, you take another 10,000 bucks and you put it into Litecoin Then he says, take another 10,000 bucks and put it into Ethereum Get yourself a hardware wallet Take them off the exchange, put them in that hardware wallet And pack that wallet, Trezor, Nano, whatever Away somewhere for two years and just forget about it

[22:54] Don't do anything He said, I'm as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow Then again, it might not, if we get hit by a big enough asteroid overnight Anyway, he said, I'm more than reasonably certain that if you bought those three cryptos, spent 30,000 bucks right now You will have over a million dollars in two years Hey, I'm not giving you any investment advice I'm just telling you about conversations that went down at a recent meeting With some people who are really in the know Expats who are a lot smarter than I am Now my take on that, and it's me, Johnny here If you're thinking about dropping 30 grand into those three coins Remember, there's always a chance you could lose that dough Just make sure it's not your whole nest egg Then if you do lose it, it won't put a big kink in your lifestyle Which is why Expat Oscar said, put it in a hardware wallet and hide it away for two years

[23:43] Obviously, if you're going to take any amount of money and put it away for two years And not even bother to look at it again It's most certainly money you could afford to lose Hey, just sharing some info and thoughts with you And remember, you get what you pay for And you paid how much to download this show? Hmm, alright, that's enough of the crypto stuff Maybe way too much You asleep yet? You know, it seems like when you read about this everywhere That Latin Americans are the happiest people in the world Except for our upper class and wealthy Latins Who seem to be pretentious gringo wannabes And they're forever copying us Everything from our bad eating habits To our pill popping and self-induced stress But thankfully that only takes in about 5% or less of the Latin population And it's funny, if you happen to know any of those types They don't seem all that happy

[24:29] Then there's the other 95% Even Latinos at the very bottom end The people who wash their clothes in the river Live in tin shacks and cook with wood They're forever laughing and joking with each other And having a great old time Except of course when Daddy's drunk And he starts beating up on Mom and the kids, you know That's a sad part of life here in Latin America too Now along with that happiness Comes another phenomena that you're only going to notice If you're down here a while and learn a little Spanish Oh, and just one more thing about that pretentious upper 5% of Latinos You're certainly going to run into Unfortunately you'll have a number of them With their entitled kids Living right next door to you in your gated community Because if that's where you choose to live and many gringos do

[25:14] They're the only other people that can afford to live in that neighborhood Anyway I was talking about another Latin habit that you have to get used to And that's the fact that everyone's so polite That just a small gesture on your part Like holding a door open for someone Or letting someone pass first ahead of you Well more times than not that person will smile and say You're very kind and may God bless you In fact, Latinos are always invoking the name of God in a good way Blessing each other 5, 6, 10 times a day The fact is I could barely get through a day without my cleaning lady or gardener Blessing me for this or that So get used to the fact that you're going to get blessed a lot Not only that, you have to get used to people telling you they're going to pray for you too And not because they think you're a bad person and need blessing

[26:02] It's just that statements and phrases like that are entirely common and natural So I just nod and roll with it I learned a long time ago to accept that stuff with no comeback Because once I was put on the spot A young lady said, for whatever reason, maybe there wasn't even a reason to say it They really don't need a reason because it's all out of politeness Wait a minute, I remember now I was in Roatan Honduras Just got done eating at a beachfront seaside restaurant And as will happen, sometimes I'll give you way too much to eat And I had a doggy bag with me So I walked out of the restaurant down the beachfront road And I saw a little kid, a poor little kid, around 6 or 7 years old with his mom And I gave him the doggy bag And you know, that's what gringos do all the time I highly recommend it You wouldn't believe how appreciative the kids and their parents are

[26:47] Though if you tried to do that in the States, hand a doggy bag to a kid you didn't know The cops just might arrest you or the parents try to sue you Their first thought won't be, thanks and God bless More than likely they'll think it's drugged, poisoned, or you're a pervert trying to lure a kid Anyway, I handed it to the kid and the mom said, dios spendiga And said she was gonna say a prayer for me And I replied, in Spanish of course Thanks, but I'm afraid it's too late to do that and expect satisfactory results She didn't laugh, she didn't get the joke She just looked at me like I was from another planet You do remember that thing about Latin and English humor Being lost in translation most of the time Well, you certainly know you're in that twilight zone When you try to use a little humor and what you get back is stone cold silence You've been listening to The Expat Files living in Latin America

[27:35] If you need some help with your own Plan B You can schedule a one-on-one phone call with me But first, download my free Plan B questionnaire at www.thenewexpat.com Better yet, if you want to get your Plan B going from right up there in the States Just sign up for my 9-hour Expat Essentials course Get the perfect Plan B blueprint by going to theexpatfiles.com slash Academy Los Famos