Should You Invest in Venezuela’s Soaring Stock Market?

Venezuela’s economy is in freefall. Hyperinflation has rendered its currency, the bolívar, nearly worthless, with prices doubling every few months. For desperate citizens, the stock market is a last-ditch effort to shield their savings from a collapsing currency and worthless bonds. The IBVC’s nominal gains look impressive, but in real, inflation-adjusted terms, they’re a mirage. Please see the one year chart below.

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You are not presently allowed to invest because of sanctions, but if you were, would you want to?

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The chart above tracks the IBVC’s meteoric rise from July 2024 to July 2025, but it masks the bolívar’s catastrophic devaluation.  This story has been told before. In 2020, I read Adam Fergusson’s When Money Dies, which chronicles the Weimar Republic’s hyperinflation in 1920s Germany. As the German Mark collapsed, German stocks soared in nominal terms, but real wealth evaporated. That economic despair fueled anger, paving the way for the Nazis’ rise in the 1930s.

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Venezuela’s crisis echoes this pattern: a stock market boom driven by currency collapse, not prosperity. The human toll is devastating—families struggle to afford basics, and savings vanish overnight. My heart goes out to Venezuelans enduring this nightmare. The lesson? Hyperinflation distorts markets and destroys wealth. Any country that recklessly prints money risks a similar fate. Sound money policies are critical to avoid Venezuela’s fate.

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