Alternative Investing Report - January 10, 2025

*as of 1/9; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

As Bitcoin has become a more mainstream investment, national governments have started to consider establishing national reserves. Smaller countries such as Bhutan and El Salvador have embraced Bitcoin, and their success has spurred other countries to at least consider investing. There has been a lot of speculation that incoming President Trump will establish a U.S. Bitcoin reserve, and multiple states have introduced bills to create their own.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Some of this speculation has already been priced in, but if and when more and bigger countries start to purchase Bitcoins, expect a bull run. More government support will continue legitimizing crypto to mainstream investors and create additional demand.

Monday January 13 at 11 AM ET - join us for our next pre-IPO briefing covering the American space technology giant SpaceX. Vincent’s Slava Rubin and Sacra’s Jan-Erik Asplund will discuss the company’s growth, strengths, challenges, IPO prospects, and much more. Presented by UpMarket.

As the art market has slowed the past two years, major auction houses are increasingly turning to other luxury goods, like watches and handbags, but also to collectibles such as sports and entertainment memorabilia, and even dinosaur fossils. Both Sotheby’s and Christie’s have pursued the classic and ultra-luxury car market, with Christie’s acquiring car auctioneer Gooding & Co. last September. Meanwhile, Sotheby’s has partnered with the NBA to hold regular memorabilia auctions.

➨ TAKEAWAY: With sales down at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s in 2024, it makes sense that they would expand their offerings to attract more buyers. This is to the benefit of the collectibles world, which gets more exposure and media attention while also being more legitimized due to their association with legacy auction houses. Expect 2025 to feature more prominent sales within niche asset classes.

🏢 $20 billion data center investment: Dubai-based billionaire Hussain Sajwani is planning to invest at least $20 billion to develop and build data centers across the U.S., as the burgeoning AI industry is increasing demand for industrial real estate.

🤝 eBay + Facebook: The auction giant announced a partnership with Facebook Marketplace to have their listings appear on the platform in the U.S., Germany, and France. This will exponentially increase the exposure of eBay’s auction listings, which could be a boon for the collectibles industry.

🤖 AI funding: Artificial intelligence startups made up 46.4% of all U.S. VC fundraising in 2024, with giant funding founds for OpenAI, xAI, and Anthropic leading the way.

🏡 Housing market thawing: As buyers and sellers are accepting the “new normal” of 7% mortgage rates, inventory and sales are rising, though housing affordability concerns still remain.

🚀 More distributions in 2025: In 2024, distributions from VC funds reached their lowest levels since 2009, but Pitchbook projects them to increase in 2025, opening the door to more liquidity for investors.

🪙 South Korean institutional investment: Financial regulators in South Korea are in the process of approving corporate investment into digital assets by the end of the year, as governments worldwide are trending pro-crypto.

Monday: 🏡 Pending home sales
Tuesday: 🏢 Multifamily market, 💵 Private wealth and alts
Wednesday: 🚀 2024 Fundraising numbers, 🏢 Shopping centers surging
Thursday: 🏡 2025 hottest markets, 🚀 2025 IPO candidates

Have a great weekend!