Whether it’s dollars, pesos, rupees, or dinar, there’s no denying that money is a critical piece of Rest of World’s global coverage. Have you been keeping up? Take our new quiz to test your knowledge of skyrocketing inflation rates, sketchy loan apps, and crypto-funded revolutions.


1. Argentina holds the world’s highest inflation rate. What is it annually?

  1. 79%
  2. 288%
  3. 381%

2. What’s equivalent to how much money Filipino foreign workers sent home in the first half of 2024?

  1. The GDP of Samoa ($934 million)
  2. The market cap of Meta ($1.35 trillion)
  3. The net worth of Michael Jordan ($3.2 billion)

3. What strange thing does one Nigerian loan app do if you default?

  1. It sends alerts to local banks saying you are a high-risk customer
  2. It makes your phone’s alarm play continuously until you pay
  3. It texts every contact in your phone to shame you into paying

4. A crypto-libertarian startup city is suing Honduras. For how much?

  1. Two-thirds the annual budget of Honduras
  2. Twice the GDP of Honduras
  3. Honduras’ total export value in 2023

5. How do content creators in Cuba monetize their videos?

  1. They join YouTube’s Partner Program and earn $0.18 per view
  2. They ask someone abroad to handle it and send them the profit
  3. They can’t

6. Japan was slow to adopt mobile money. Why?

  1. Japan is too safe
  2. Japan’s use of crypto makes mobile money obsolete
  3. Japan prohibited the use of NFC chips until 2015

7. Which government-in-exile made its own cryptocurrency to fund revolution?

  1. Algeria’s Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie
  2. Myanmar’s National Unity Government
  3. The East Turkistan Government in Exile

The answers

1. B

288%

Inflation has been a flashpoint for the 2024 elections in the U.S., where rates have reached 2.9%. But that’s nothing compared to Argentina. Argentines have been contending with high inflation for years now, with recent annual rates around 288%. In the first half of 2024, the country’s cost of living surged close to 80% compared to the same period last year. Little wonder people are looking for extra income wherever they can, including, as we reported, exchanging eyeball scans for $50 in crypto.

2. C

The net worth of Michael Jordan ($3.2 billion)

Remittance payments from the 10 million Filipinos who work overseas are a major source of income for the Philippines, roughly 1% of the country’s GDP. The work of this large labor force is often invisible and sometimes dangerous, as we have reported.

3. C

It texts every contact in your phone to shame you into paying

The OKash app will text every contact in your phone to shame you, as we reported in 2020. Two years after our story, Nigeria banned OKash and several other loan apps engaged in similarly shady behavior. Read about more predatory loan apps around the world.

4. A

Two-thirds the annual budget of Honduras

U.S. investors in Próspera are unhappy with the Honduran government’s treatment of special economic zones, so they’re suing the country for two-thirds of its annual budget, which comes out to a cool $11 billion. (The annual budget of Honduras in 2023 was $15.9 billion.) Read our story on Próspera, where Bitcoin is legal tender, here.

5. B

They ask someone outside Cuba to handle it and send them the profit

Online payment services like PayPal and Stripe are banned in Cuba as part of the U.S. commercial embargo, and Instagram and YouTube monetization features are unavailable for local creators. So Cuban creators looking to make money from their videos have to ask someone outside of Cuba to handle it and send them the profit, as we reported in July.

6. A

Japan is too safe

Despite having plenty of cashless infrastructure available, Japan’s low levels of theft and fraud have historically meant that locals feel safe carrying lots of cash around, per the Tokyo Review. Another contributing factor? Its rapidly aging population.  

7. B

Myanmar’s National Unity Government

After a military junta took power in Myanmar in the 2021 coup d’état, the military restricted use of foreign currency in the country. Hard cash became largely unavailable. In June 2022, the National Unity Government, Myanmar’s anti-coup revolutionary civilian administration, launched its own digital currency to help fund resistance activities.