Steers said, “Thank you. But to answer your question, Señor Ramirez, the head of the committee would be on a revolving basis, serving only for one year before rotating to the next person.”
“And who shall serve as the initial chairman, I wonder?” said a disgusted-looking Ramirez. “Or more likely, chairwoman.”
“I was actually going to recommend thatyoube our first chairman,” said Steers smoothly.
“See, I told you that she—” Ramirez broke off and looked at Steers. “Me? Me as first chairman?”
Tecú smiled and said, “Did not see that one coming, did you, Enrique?”
The other men laughed, and Ramirez finally joined in.
Steers glanced at Ryder and allowed herself a brief smile before turning back to the others.
“The backroom operations cost us all far too much, and there are too many gaps that allow others to take what is ours. I have undertaken an intensive study, and it shows that each of us lose up to twenty-five percent of our profits to this sort of thievery.”
“Itisa problem,” agreed Señor Tecú. “And the young, they do not want to work anymore. They just want to be rich on day one. Then the idiots go on Instagram and brag about it, not thinking through the consequences. Then the police show up and there goes a dozen of my men and a chunk of my business.”
The other men nodded their heads and muttered about this in low tones.
Ramirez snorted. “The Americans complain and complain about all the drugs coming into their country. But do they ever think about supply and demand? Over seventy million Americans are drug users. What do they do about that? Nothing. And it is Americans who bring the drugs across the borders. It is Americans who distribute it on the streets. Do they think if they stop the drugs coming in these seventy million people will suddenly no longer want drugs? Ha! This is moronic. And it is Americans who bring all those weapons into our countries and they do nothing to stop it. But no, they do not want to acknowledge that. Bullshit, I say. And why do people take drugs in America? I will tell you why. It is because they have nothing. In the richest country on earth they have not the means for a good life. And why? Because Americans are big shots. They go it alone. There are winners and losers. But there are very few winners in America. These few have all the money and the power, and the rest of the people, they get the scraps. And dogs cannot live long on scraps.” But then Ramirez smiled. “Not that I am complaining. It has made me very, very rich.”
The other men laughed.
Steers said, “You are right, Señor Ramirez, in all that you say. However, returning to the business matters of importance, that twenty-five-percent loss represents billions of dollars to each of us. Billions,” she repeated. “But by combining skillfully our operations with great care, and the exercising of hypervigilance, along with the very latest AI and biometric technology, I am confident that we can virtually wipe out these losses, and thereby increase our profits with great substantiality. It is true that the monies necessary to do this are not insignificant by any means, but my calculations indicate that we will be made whole in less than three months and that far greater profits will flow thereafter. However, we have one other matter of importance to address, and I believe it to be one of critical significance.”
“You speak of the Chinese, your people, your country?” Ramirez said bluntly.
“I amnotspeaking of the Chinese. I am addressing fundamentally what we will do with our profits. Now that the United States and other countries are leaping helter-skelter onto the mania of cryptocurrency, it is time for us to seriously consider withdrawing our assets from these exchanges and returning them to more traditional assets. They tout crypto as the next global currency, but that, to me, is a lie. It is actually a sham with nothing behind it, is my true belief. It will never really be used as currency, for the price fluctuates too much. Stablecoin, the one such currency that fluctuates far less, is almost exclusively used to purchase cryptocurrency.”
“But it kept the authorities at bay,” pointed out Tecù. “This blockchain ledger bullshit which I still do not wholly understand,” he added, to guffaws from the others.
Steers did not smile or join in the laughter. “Its complexity is one reason not to trust it. And yes, you are correct that this asset base was fine for people like us because it made it that much harder for the authorities to track down our funds. But my chief worry now is that there will come a time soon when there is a run on crypto, because everyone is buying it, but its only value is that there will be a finite number of coins created so that those behind this scheme will tout the fact that it continues to go up in value. But they will have already cashed out by then and taken their profits, as they always do, leaving the unsophisticated holding what remains, which will be nothing. And then there will be other such coins created with, again, a finite number, and the whole absurdity begins again. It is like children collecting Pokemon cards. But we are not children. And this does not even take into consideration that advances in both AI and quantum computing could pose serious threats to the sanctity of the blockchain. And if that is pierced or disrupted in any way, the whole house of cards, so to speak, will collapse.”
“I agree that crypto is getting out of hand, particularly since so many greedy billionaires have their hands all over it,” said Tecú. “But why do you think there will be a run on it?”
“Because of myriad global factors, consumer prices will continue to go up and credit card and car loan debt will increase along with it. People will run out of savings and need to cash in. Then, with the rich having already obtained their obscene profits out of the affair, and when no one else will buy the crypto, there will be a panic. There are Bitcoin ATMs, but you can withdraw only minimal amounts from them. More and more people will attempt to sell, not wanting to be caught with a worthless asset. And that is what it will become, worthless, as always happens when sellers far outnumber buyers. Just recently, because of an escalation in the tariff wars, Bitcoin lost 20 percent of its value in one day! That is unacceptable. There are no laws and regulations regarding it. The rich who created it have bought off all the politicians so they can take advantage of everyone else, and so they have.”
“Then what do we do with our money?” asked Ramirez.
“I propose we turn to hard currency, gold, real estate, and high-quality stocks and bonds. The accounts will be segregated, of course, and encrypted and walled off to such a degree that I have been told that even quantum-computing assaults will be futile. And these are assets capable of appreciation based not on whim or manipulation but on verifiable market conditions and performance. And the bonds will throw off significant cash flow, particularly in the current high-interest-rate environment. It is a market condition that is unequivocally favorable to those with the means to invest. Comparisons of performance that I had undertaken, and that have been shared with your financial people, show that our returns will be more than double what we could expect from crypto, even without the inherent uncertainties and downsides of which I have already spoken. It is the steady tortoise that wins the race over the mercurial and undisciplined hare.Thatis my plan.”
The men looked at each other and nodded approvingly.
Tecú said, “You have done well, Ms. Steers. But we would have expected no less.”
“We are in a precarious moment in time, gentlemen,” she said. “United we can survive, of that I am convinced.” She glanced at Ramirez, who was drumming his fingers on the table and looking distracted. “Do you not agree, Señor Ramirez?”
He jerked up. “What? Oh, yes, yes I do.” He made a fist. “United.”
“As all of you know, I have worked with those from China on many of my endeavors. But that is no more. I cannot countenance pursuing an agenda that has, as one of its principal outcomes, the utter destruction of our customer base.”
“About time someone said that to them,” barked one of the other men.
“How did they take this change in your position?” said Tecú.
Steers stared at him. “As you probably know, they tried to kill me in Hong Kong.”
Tecú glanced at the others. “There were rumors to that effect, but we know of no details.”