Among the most popular aquarium fish is the small and resilient Neon Tetra that originates from the tropical freshwater rivers and streams in South America. Once upon a time, this colourful fish was like a sentient Bitcoin – everybody wanted to own the miracle fish, as importing it promised #gains, but only the first to obtain them would make a lot of money as breeding would then cause the price to fall.

To get a hold of a Neon Tetra, one would have had to take on a perilous journey to Peru and risk contracting deadly tropical diseases in the process. After the adventurer Auguste Rabaut discovered the fish by accident, he sold all 13 that he brought home for a sum of $6,500 to two Germans. That’s a very large sum for a very tiny fish.

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