POV: You just came into $5M in cold, hard USD cash.
Sounds amazing, right?

But then the questions hit:
What do you actually do with it?
How do you move it? Leverage it? Invest it?

Here’s the thing—despite what movies might suggest, you can’t just stroll into a bank with duffel bags of money. They’ll hit you with endless questions, and even getting that much cash through the door is a logistical nightmare.

I know this because it happened to a friend of mine. (A story for another day.)
What I can tell you is this: there’s an entire underground web of money movers—complex networks of changers, couriers, coded communication, and quiet coordination—that exist solely to move capital off the grid.

On the flip side, I’m just as fascinated when I see money being generated at dizzying speeds.

Last week alone:

It makes you wonder:

How does money actually move? How does it flow, get tracked, get registered?

Here is the truth: in every industry, the money you see is only half the story. I’ve had a front row seat to this watching cannabis go from illicit/grey to fully legal in multiple countries and countless states.

There is the side with logos, licenses, and LinkedIn profiles…
and the side that hums quietly, efficiently, and very profitably underneath it all.

The illicit market.

Most executives treat it like a taboo footnote.

I see it as an overlooked economic engine — one that quietly shapes consumer behavior, pricing expectations, and even the speed of innovation

Understanding illicit markets is key and discussed well in Jim Rogers Adventure Capitalist and Investment Biker books. In these books, Jim details his travels around the world and his ability to find the underground money changers and make margins on currencies.

His books are written 10 years apart, I highly recommend.

Let’s get into this version of Polaris Perspective.

⌛ Reading time 7 minutes

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Whether it’s:

There’s always a parallel market operating in the shadows.

And here’s the paradox: they often move faster than regulated markets.

They don’t wait for licenses, lawyers, or lobbying.

They spot unmet demand and flood it with supply. They set early price anchors. They build customer habits. They even create the first “brand loyalty” before legal brands arrive.

In other words: they sketch the blueprint of the market’s true demand curve — while the regulated side is still arguing about compliance forms.

But let’s be clear: this speed comes at a price.

This isn’t just a compliance problem. It’s an economic drag on our ability to compound knowledge and capital.

Most leaders make the mistake of ignoring illicit markets until they collide with them.

The best ones?

They study them early — not to romanticize them, but to understand the demand they reveal, the friction they bypass, and the cultural trust they capture.

If you want to win in any market — cannabis, wellness, or fintech — you must build as if an illicit competitor is already out-executing you.

Because they probably are. They are sophisticated, networked, knowledgeable, nimble and have a deep pre-built infrastructure.

Shadow markets are the ghost infrastructure of global commerce: unseen, unregulated, and undeniably influential.

You can’t wish them away, yet you can design around them.
And if you do it well — you don’t just capture market share.
You build safer, smarter, and more sustainable industries.

That’s how real transformation begins.
Not just by winning the market you see, but by out-thinking the one you don’t.

Size / Forecast of Legal Market
The global legal cannabis market was valued at USD 25.52 billion in 2024, with projections to reach approximately USD 233.33 billion by 2034.

Size / Share of Illicit / Shadow Market
In the U.S., about 75% of cannabis demand (2021) was still being met via illicit sales rather than through the legal supply chain (Politico Pro).

Implications & Lost Value
Legal markets are losing significant shares of potential revenue (tax, regulatory fees, etc.), while illicit producers — with lower compliance costs — continue to undercut prices and shape consumer behavior. The high illicit share also imposes public safety, regulation, health, and enforcement burdens.

Size / Forecast of Legal Market

Size / Share of Illicit / Shadow Market

Implications & Lost Value
The shadow market is large enough to threaten investments, distort pricing, and disincentivize legal content creation/licensing. Enforcement and regulation costs mount, while governments lose out on major tax and royalty income. Consumers also face risks from malware, data theft, and fraudulent providers.

Size / Forecast of Legal Market
Formal remittance systems and regulated financial services are significant and growing globally, but often exclude or are too costly for many cross-border or low-income users.

Size / Share of Illicit / Shadow Market
Informal value transfer systems (IVTS), such as hawala/hundi, are deeply embedded in many regions (Middle East, South Asia, Horn of Africa). They move large sums of money but largely escape formal oversight, regulation, and taxation (IMF, AustLII, Wikipedia).

Implications & Lost Value
These systems create:

Because of scarce and fragmented data, research and policy often lag behind actual risks, making it difficult to design effective interventions.

I’m excited to be part of Hemp for the Future 2025 in Reykjavík, Iceland on October 2–3.

This international gathering brings together experts, innovators, and media from across Europe, the U.S., and as far away as Australia, to explore cannabis, hemp, sustainability, and wellness.

The conference highlights how nature and science meet to create a greener future—join us in Iceland or follow along online!

GET TICKETS HERE

Longevity takes on a new meaning when you commit to 26.2 miles. I’m officially in for the New York City Marathon, bib secured. With seven weeks to go, the training clock is ticking.

I want to lean on the Polaris community: What recovery strategies should I focus on during training? Reply and share your best advice.

I am also turning this into more than a personal challenge. Over the next seven weeks I will be documenting my journey to race day through training updates, lessons learned, and community insights.

Here is the offering I am putting together for partners:

If you are a brand that wants to be part of this marathon story, reach out (Reply to this email) to discuss partnership opportunities.

If you’ve ever opened PowerPoint, stared at a blank slide, and felt stuck, Gamma might be your new favorite tool.

It takes the friction out of creating presentations, documents, and even landing pages by using AI to generate clean, visual formats in seconds. It’s ridiculous.

A few things we like about it:

Just go play around with it, it’s crazy.