I received a photo of my friend traveling in Lebanon last week. He was holding a bundle of notes that looked like Monopoly money — more than 50,000 Lebanese pounds. Do you know how much that was? About 3 reais. That made me realize something we often ignore: while here in Brazil we complain about the dollar above 5 reais, there are countries with currencies more devalued than the real by absolutely absurd proportions.

The real closed 2024 as the worst currency in the world among the main ones, with a decline of 21.52%. But when you see what’s happening elsewhere, that’s peanuts. The truth is that some currencies simply melt over time. And it’s no coincidence — there’s always a reason behind it.

When a currency crashes like that, it’s usually a combination of all kinds of bad factors. Uncontrolled inflation that makes prices double month after month. Political instability that scares off investors. Sanctions that cut the country off from the global financial system. Central banks without enough dollars to defend the currency. And worse: citizens themselves preferring to store foreign currency under the mattress rather than trust the local currency.

I did some research on the worst cases currently, and the results are disturbing. There are countries with currencies more devalued than the real that we don’t even know well.

The Lebanese Pound is practically the ultimate symbol of this. Officially, it should be 1,507.5 pounds per dollar, but in the real market? You need more than 90,000. Banks limit withdrawals. Stores only accept dollars. A journalist told me that Uber drivers in Beirut ask for payment in foreign currency because no one wants Lebanese pounds anymore.

Then there’s the Iranian Rial. American sanctions turned it into a third-world currency. With 100 reais, you become a millionaire in rials. The funny thing is that young Iranians are migrating to cryptocurrencies because Bitcoin and Ethereum have become a more reliable store of value than the national currency itself.

The Vietnamese Dong is different — Vietnam’s economy is growing, but the currency has historically been weak due to monetary policy. You withdraw 1 million dongs at the cashier and get a bundle worthy of a TV series. Great for tourists, but for Vietnamese people, it means imports become expensive.

There’s also the Laotian Kip, the Indonesian Rupiah, which has never managed to strengthen despite Indonesia being Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The Uzbek som reflects decades of a closed economy. The Guinean franc in a country rich in gold and bauxite but broken by corruption. The Paraguayan guarani, which keeps Ciudad del Este as a shopping paradise for us. The Malagasy ariary in one of the poorest nations in the world. And finally, the Burundian franc so weak that in large purchases, people literally carry bags of money.

The pattern is clear: countries with currencies more devalued than the real usually suffer from unstable politics, fragile economies, or international sanctions. It’s no coincidence. It’s a consequence.

For investors, the lesson is obvious. Cheap currencies may seem like an opportunity, but most of these countries are experiencing deep crises. The real advantage lies in tourism — destinations with devalued currencies become insanely cheap for those arriving with dollars or reais.

But there’s something more important in all this. Watching how currencies plummet is a practical way to understand the effects of inflation, corruption, and instability. It shows why trust, stability, and good governance matter so much to any economy.

And if you want to ensure your money doesn’t turn into paper, you need to think about assets that cross borders and aren’t affected by local inflation. That’s real investing — learning to read the world and act based on it.