Europe’s lucrative, illegal, trade in sea cucumbers is booming

-
The nubbly, worm-like species is an Asian delicacy, but stocks in the Pacific are severely depleted. Now European businesses – and drug dealers – are trying to get in on the profitable trade

from WIRED UK https://ift.tt/3dyRu6h

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 investors discuss what’s in store for venture debt following SVB’s collapse

-
There are many questions around the implications of Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse that won’t be answered for a long time. But there’s one question that many startups and investors are hoping will get answered sooner rather than later: What happens to venture debt? SVB was one of the larger, if not the largest, providers of venture debt to U.S.-based startups. And now that First Republic Bank has also gone under, that question has spiraled, growing ever more complex. Many startups rely on venture debt: it’s both a cheaper alternative to raising equity and can serve as a capital tool that helps companies build in ways that equity isn’t great for. For some companies in capital-intensive areas like climate, fintech and defense, access to debt is often the only avenue to growth or scale. Thankfully, venture capitalists aren’t too worried about the SVB collapse’s impact on venture debt as a whole. We’re widening our lens, looking for more investors to participate in TechCrunch su...
Read more

The only take about the future of media is that media is the future

-
Hello and welcome back to  Equity , TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This week we —  Natasha  and  Danny  and  Alex  and  Grace — had more than a little to noodle over, but not so much that we blocked out a second episode. We try to stick to our current format, but, may do more shows in the future. Have a thought about that? equitypod@techcrunch.com is your friend and we are listening. Now! We took a broad approach this week, so there is a little of something for everything down below. Enjoy! Hims is going to SPAC itself onto the public markets , which should prove interesting for other D2C startups eyeing the same move. The final quarter of 2020 and the full year brought an ocean of capital to bear on U.S. startups , something that we delighted in chewing on. Fintech is also hot as all heck . Plaid is building a fintech accelerator , which we thought was cool. Plaid launch...
Read more

Blockchain blockchain Malkovich blockchain

-
I spent much of last week at blockchain conferences, and I’m about ready to never hear the word again. This despite the fact I’ve been supporting decentralized software, as a counterweight or at least alternative to the growing power of governments and megacorps, for years now . Do you think blockchains are no answer? Great, let’s discuss! I wholeheartedly support you skeptics with whom I cautiously disagree. What I can’t stand, it turns out, is an endless sea of true believers nominally on my side . The believers are twofold, and the two groups grate differently. One group is there almost purely because there is money in the space: Wall Street types hoping to rule a new asset-tokenized world which may come to be; financial startups offering blockchain versions of existing financial tools; new marketplaces just like old marketplaces, except On The Blockchain, and therefore better. It’s all too easy to envision a future in which the collective vampire squid that is the financial indus...
Read more