The Venezuelan bolivar has suffered from hyperinflation under the regime of President Nicolas Maduro, and the currency's value has now sunk below that of the video game currency in "World of Warcraft."
The Venezuelan bolivar can now be exchanged at 11,185.95 per dollar, while gold in the virtual world of Azeroth can be exchanged at about 8,264 coins per dollar, the Blaze reports. Those respective numbers come from DolarToday, which tracks the bolivar on the black market, and from MMOBux, which tracks the value of the currencies in various massive multiplayer online video games.
Venezuela's socialist government has been in the midst of an ongoing economic crisis while the dip in oil prices has exposed the OPEC member's dependence on oil exports. Opposition to Maduro's government has grown, but police forces have cracked down by arresting opposition leaders, seizing weapons and arming pro-government militias, and tightening the government's grip on the society.
Maduro has responded to the country's economic problems by excessively printing more bolivars. Government efforts to prop up their money are failing and driving inflation continually upward, and Venezuelans are struggling with shortages of everything from food to toilet paper.
Opposition groups protested and boycotted Venezuela's election Sunday. Maduro's government received nearly unlimited power in that election, which the U.S. considers illegitimate.
President Donald Trump announced sanctions against Venezuela on Monday, and called Maduro a "dictator." Maduro denounced Trump that same day.
"You are either with Trump or you are with Venezuela," Maduro said. "You are either with Trump or with democracy."