The Most Insane Currency You Never Heard Of

Fergus Hodgson, 20 December 2017

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Venezuela has already shown the world the recipe for hyperinflation with the formerly fuerte bolívares. Now she offers the petro, a state-sanctioned cryptocurrency, but that is not all. Given a cash crunch, the nation has run out of printed currency, and a local comuna (a Chavista gang) has started a private currency to bridge the gap — the panal (honeycomb) — and to bridge the gap they are backing it with, you guessed it, the same bolívares in hyperinflation.

No, this is not made up. You have to laugh to keep from crying.

Our man in Caracas, Venezuela, is Carlos Camacho — a reporter with the Latin American Herald Tribune and the, cough, BBC.

The new private currency, the panal, is exchangeable for 5,000 bolívares and sports Hugo Chávez as its inspiration. (Martin Lara)

Recommended Links

• Episode 48: The Venezuela the Media Won’t Report.
• Episode 20: How Venezuela Joined the Hyperinflation Club.
• Bitcoin Foundation of Venezuela.
• “Bitcoin Is Exploding in Venezuela,” by Saheli Roy Choudhury of CNBC.

Fergus Hodgson is Gold Newsletter’s roving editor. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.