• Seafood distributors express concerns over tariffs at Seafood Expo North America
• Shrimp demand remains steady, no upside expected in short term
• China’s economic slowdown could impact US shrimp prices

But the secondary market concert ticket vendor reported a loss of $2.8 million compared to the $405 million profit it made in 2023

Yahoo sold TechCrunch to Regent, a Los Angeles-based investment firm that has been on a recent media buying spree.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27006467

It’ll be Google’s most expensive deal to date if it goes ahead.

• Remittance companies Remitly ($RELY) and Western Union ($WU) face a trifecta of risk: slowing growth in key markets; more affordable competition from peer-to-peer apps, cryptocurrency, or card-to-card options; and now, federal scrutiny of cross-border transfers tied to cartels that the United States designated terrorist groups in February.
• Remitly is the “fastest growing partner” of Grupo Elektra/Banco Azteca, a conglomerate accused of cartel money laundering. Western Union and MoneyGram also work with Elektra, whose stock plummeted more than -75% in 2024.
• Elektra has helped fuel Remitly’s growth since the start of their “direct partnership” in 2021, but also may have implicated Remitly in a cartel laundering scheme detailed by Reuters, Univision, and a major Mexican investor. Remitly is used by “‘money-mule’ networks,” according to an investigative nonprofit. All of Remitly’s revenue is from cross-border remittances.
• Remittances have been linked to the fentanyl trade by federal agencies and academics. The Trump administration’s crackdown began with new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) restrictions issued March 11, which lower the reporting threshold for remittance companies in specific regions to $200 from $10,000 — the start of an “all government effort” to fight cartels, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Vice President JD Vance introduced a bill to tax remittances as a senator. Secretary of State Marco Rubio restricted remittances to Cuba his first week in office. Several states are also imposing costs on remittances.
• In February, Congress unanimously advanced the Stop Fentanyl Money Laundering Act of 2025 from committee with bipartisan support. The Act mandates the Treasury Department to strengthen regulations on financial institutions including remittance companies.
• Policies targeting remittance platforms could also impact immigrants sending money back home to loved ones. “People who barely scrape by and try to send money home, if they have to show IDs, and companies take their commissions, then it is extra punitive to add more taxes, more tariffs, in the supposed effort to fight the cartels and fentanyl,” a former kindergarten teacher and U.S. Navy veteran who has sent remittances to Mexico for 30 years told Hunterbrook Media. “These people are not the culprit.”
• Growth in remittances has already decelerated, according to the Bank of Mexico, from 25.9% in 2021 to just 2.3% in 2024. Western Union’s CEO told investors on March 11 that the remittance company has seen a “slowdown in our Latin America business” and guided lower for Q1 2025, blaming “anxiety in the marketplace post-election.”
• Remitly initially launched with the promise of charging users less to send money home, then hiked fees and cut website comparisons to incumbents like Western Union and MoneyGram, which now charge similar amounts. A study by the government of Mexico found Remitly to be the most expensive option for remittances — with the company obfuscating charges through a worse exchange rate.
• Remittance companies are fighting a wave of competition from more affordable options: 1) card-to-card programs like Visa Direct; 2) cryptocurrency, from apps like Coinbase and Robinhood to stablecoins like Tether and Circle; and 3) peer-to-peer transfers like Venmo, Zelle, and Cash App.
• Remitly’s CFO, chief accounting officer, and other executives departed within the past year, following material weaknesses in SEC filings. The CEO, CBO, and former COO have each rapidly sold Remitly stock in recent months.
• Remitly, Western Union, MoneyGram, Banco Azteca, and Grupo Elektra did not reply to repeated requests for comment. They did not deny cartel activity on their platforms or respond regarding any efforts to limit cartel transfers. In 2017, Remitly’s CEO argued to Congress: “Digital remittance providers like Remitly provide an additional layer of security against consumer fraud and money laundering risks by not accepting cash and by providing services directly to the end customer without relying upon the use of an agent network or other intermediary.”

Company has long drawn ire from musicians who say streaming model does not remunerate them enough

Zolve, a neobanking startup targeting global citizens seeking credit, has raised $251 million in a new round to expand into Canada and launch loans.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/26658616

Redfin is being acquired in an all-stock transaction that values the real estate listing platform at $1.75 billion.

A positive economic development in the USA. Take a win where you find them.

Shares of Duolingo (DUOL) are plunging after the company released a mixed earnings report. Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn joins Morning Brief to discuss the company's growth outlook amid this market reaction. "We're growing in every region," von Ahn tells Yahoo Finance, adding, "One thing that is really interesting is that even regions that are pretty mature for us are still growing fast." Addressing the company's substantial investments in artificial intelligence (AI), von Ahn explains, "We're in a unique point in time with artificial intelligence." He outlines Duolingo's plans to continue investing in the technology through the first half of 2025, emphasizing that these investments focus on creating content and conversational practice capabilities for their platform, which he expects will ultimately help reduce operational costs for the business. Von Ahn believes the AI strategy is "the right thing to do at the moment." To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here. This post was written by Angel Smith

Ryan Breslow is once again the CEO of Bolt, the fintech company told TechCrunch on Wednesday. Bolt shared a communication that recently went out to

The CEO of Canoo is buying nearly all of the defunct EV startup's assets out of bankruptcy, according to a court filing. A new entity controlled by the

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/26322411

Canal+ is remaining bullish in the face of a falling share price, as its first full-year results since its London listing revealed revenues of €6.45B.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/26310464

More TSMC factories are coming to the US.