The current Bitcoin phenomenon may prove to be the next Fed-induced asset bubble: Currency. Let’s look at another example of a currency rampage due to Central Bank intervention- the Yen. It’s gone from $90 USD to $98 since Feb.
Understanding how this affects the dollars in your wallet is simple: First we write the Yen in its fractional form:
USD/JPY
The Japanese Central bank is printing more Yen, so the value of the Yen relative to the Dollar will go down because there are more Yen available. Just like the Chinese junk at Wal-Mart and Home Depot is cheap to buy, because it’s mass produced, the Yen becomes cheap to buy in Dollar terms when it is mass produced by the Bank of Japan. This is why the value of the USD/JPY currency-cross function has gone from $90 to $98 in Dollar terms:
$90=USD/JPY to $98=USD/JPY
Keep in mind that the US Federal Reserve is also printing more dollars by purchasing assets like US Bonds and Mortgages, so the value of the Dollar is decreasing relative to all other currencies as well. The absolute value of the fraction will depend on the currency with the higher rate of decay. If the Bank of Japan can print Yen faster than the Fed can print dollars, the Yen will decrease relative to the Dollar and the numerator will stay the same while the denominator decreases, so the value of the fraction will continue to go up.