(Kitco News) A monetary system collapse is coming, and the trigger will be raging inflation, said Lawrence Lepard, Equity Management Associates managing partner.
"We've reached peak debt and peak money printing as a solution to our problems. The growth of the money supply has almost gone vertical," Lepard told Michelle Makori, editor-in-chief of Kitco News. "And this is how inflation, which could become hyperinflation, get started."
The system is broken and needs a reset, Lepard stated, noting that the U.S. dollar "as we know it" will collapse during this decade.
"The existing dollar will be dead in ten years' time. It will be completely worthless. Within a decade, this monetary system will have failed," he said. "When we get to the point where inflation is just raging, which is where I believe we are headed, people are going say this monetary system does not work. All fiat money eventually returns to its intrinsic value, which is zero."
One of the possible replacements for the U.S. dollar on a global stage will be bitcoin or gold.
Lepard described both assets as "sound money," with the latter hitting new record highs Wednesday, surging above $66,000 on the successful launch of the first bitcoin ETF.
At the end of the day, it is all about inflation, and the real value of both gold and bitcoin should already be a lot higher, according to Lepard. "If you go back and you look at the old monetary ratios, gold should easily be $10,000 right now. If you look at bitcoin, it could easily be $200,000 right now," he said.
Lepard suggested sticking with assets that will retain their value in these inflationary times. "Houses, gold and silver coins, gold and silver mining stocks. Bitcoin is an emerging form of sound money. You need to move some of your assets into something that provides you with inflation protection," he added.
His outlook sees gold at $2,700 one year from now, at $5,000 five years from now, and infinity in dollar terms ten years from now.
Lepard also projects bitcoin to hit $150,000 in one year and $2 million in five years.
Watch the video above to find out Lepard's pick for the worst investment right now. Follow Michelle Makori on Twitter: @MichelleMakori (https://twitter.com/MichelleMakori).
By Kitco NewsFor Kitco News
Follow @kitconewsnow