Got some Iraqi money?

Some years back the internet was abuzz with rumors about Donald Trump sinking something to the tune of 30 Million Dollars into Iraqi Dinar currency.

This was years ago before Trump was even running for President but it was big talk on a lot of blogs, forums and message boards.

To date we have not seen Trump come out himself and announce he made a purchase of Iraqi Dinar, no credible news source has backed this rumor, and it seems likely that Trump is not holding 30 Million Dollars of Iraqi Dinar.

  Buy IQD

Sounds a bit wonky. And why is this a story?

Trump supporter Hayes Kotseos runs a North Carolina pool-maintenance company, but she’s got a side bet that she thinks might make her fabulously wealthy: the Iraqi dinar.

[...]

The purchase, Kotseos said, cost her and her husband somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000, counting the cut to the company that sold them the dinars. Two of her adult children have bought millions more dinars, too.

[...]

The currency is nearly worthless outside of Iraq, but Kotseos bought millions of dinars in April, after watching a video of President Trump at a 2017 press conference. In the clip, Trump says, with characteristic vagueness, that all currencies will soon “be on a level playing field.”

In reality, Trump was talking about trade imbalances with China. But like other Trump supporters who have fallen into the dinar investment scam, which has existed since at least 2012, Kotseos interpreted Trump’s rambling statement as proof that the Iraqi dinar would soon be worth as much or even more than the dollar, making anyone who had been smart enough to buy in early a millionaire.

“I love my president, and I was like, ‘Oh my God,’” Kotseos told The Daily Beast.

  TheDaily

Oh, my god, indeed.

Like other investors in the incredibly long-shot dinar scheme, Kotseos hopes that Trump and the Iraqi government will somehow “revalue” or “RV” the currency, boosting its current value of less than $0.001 to $3 or $4.

Dinar promoters have claimed that near-mythical event will occur for nearly a decade. But if it does it would theoretically make a millionaire of anyone with the foresight to put just a few thousand dollars into dinars.

[...]

The rumored wealth surrounding the dinar dates back to its pre-Gulf War price, when each dinar was more than $3. But sanctions and years of war have pummeled its value to less than one-tenth of one U.S. penny.

[...]

While it’s difficult to measure how many Americans have invested in the dinar, court papers related to dinar scams often mention millions of dollars worth of dinar purchases. Dinar holders regularly tweet at Trump and various Iraqi government Twitter accounts, demanding to know when they’ll finally enact the “RV” that will let the money flow in.

Never, Trumpants. He doesn't care about you.

Who's selling these dinars? Wouldn't it be funny if the first story were true - the one where Trump bought up a bunch of dinars, and HE'S the one selling them to suckers?

Trump supporters like Kotseos have also been drawn in by videos showing the “prophecy” of Kim Clement, a South African “prophet” whose fans believe predicted Trump’s election. Before his death in 2016, Clement also often mentioned a dinar revaluation.

“It was like, OK, well, God said the Iraqi dinar is going to revalue,” Kotseos told The Daily Beast.

[...]

The investors, who call themselves “Dinarians,” gather on forums with names like Dinar Detective to dissect every news item for what, if anything, it could mean for their dinar. On another site, Dinar Vets, would-be posters have to verify or “dinar-ify” themselves by posting a picture of their dinars to prove that they are really committed to the cause.

Other fans post dinar “unboxing” videos on YouTube, filming themselves as they open envelopes filled with the dinars they hope will make them wealthy. On Facebook, some dinar groups are devoted to praying for the dinar revaluation to come sooner.

But the dinar-specific corners of the internet are also rife with manipulation. In October, the owners of a Georgia-based dinar reseller that made $600 million selling the dinar and other currencies were convicted of fraud for misleading investors about the dinar’s chances to gain value.

Their scheme, according to prosecutors, included paying off a dinar “guru” to tell his fans in chat rooms and conference calls that he had high-level sources in American and Iraqi government and international financial institutions who were sure a revaluation was imminent.

PT Barnum called it.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.