Digital currency in the online role-playing game “World of Warcraft” is now worth more than the free-falling Venezuelan bolivar.
According to websites that track the value of each currency, 10,000 gold coins in the video game have a real-life value of $1.21, while 11,185.95 bolivares can be exchanged on the black market in Venezuela for $1.
Those figures, which were first compiled and reported on by The Blaze, represent a steep decline in the value of the bolivar, which traded with the U.S. dollar at 279 to 1 as recently as May, according to CNN Money.
Hyperinflation and a drop in the price of oil have stifled the Venezuelan economy under the regime of socialist President Nicholas Maduro, resulting in chronic shortages of everything from toilet paper to rice and beans.
The anemic economic climate has also caused political unrest, with violent, anti-government protests leaving hundreds dead since April.
The United States ordered embassy staff and their families to evacuate the nation last week.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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