Alternative Investing Report - January 20, 2025

*as of 1/19; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

Only two days before his inauguration, Donald Trump launched a memecoin - Trumpcoin - during a “Crypto Ball” meant to celebrate his expected pro-crypto policies. The coin immediately jumped in value more than 1,000% to $75 per coin, before crashing to $40 per coin and settling at $60 per coin at 1 AM ET, representing a market cap of $12 billion. On Sunday night, the Trump family also launched a Melania memecoin, which was up 50% as of 1 AM ET, hitting a market cap of nearly $2 billion.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The wild world of crypto just got wilder, and these surprise coin launches have completely upended the crypto industry. Solana, the underlying blockchain the coins were launched on, jumped in value by 30% in less than a day to reach an all-time high. It is still way too early to speculate on how this will affect the crypto market in the long run, but reactions are decidedly mixed. Some believe that these are transparent pump-and-dump schemes spearheaded by the incoming President to enrich himself and his family (who hold 80% of the issued coins) while others believe the exposure will be a boon for the industry. What is undeniable is that crypto will never be the same again.

In the newest episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin talks with Meanwhile’s CEO and co-founder Zac Townsend about life insurance denominated in Bitcoin, thinking long-term, and innovating fintech forward.

❌ TikTok ban update: The social media platform owned by private Chinese company ByteDance briefly shut down service to U.S. users after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law requiring the company to divest itself of ownership by this weekend. However, it restored service after a promise by incoming President Trump to delay enforcement of the law, though he is only legally allowed to do so for 90 days.

🏡 Single-family housing starts rise: Just over 1 million single-family houses started construction in 2024, the most since 2021, but overall housing starts decreased by 3.9% compared to 2023.

🚀 Insight Partners fundraise: The New York-based VC firm announced its two newest funds raised $12.5 billion in capital, the largest raise by a VC firm in over two years, perhaps buoyed by the $8 billion in exits that its portfolio companies generated in 2024.

👛 Seven figure coins: Last week’s U.S. Coin Signature auction at Heritage Auctions saw five coins sell for more than $1 million each, including a 1927-D Double Eagle that went for $3.84 million and a 1798 $5 Small Eagle that went for $3 million.

🏢 Strong retail sales: Total monthly U.S. core retail sales hit $325.4 billion in December, a gain of 5.6% year-over-year, a strong end to a good year for retail, though restaurant sales did post a slight decline.

🎨 Mixed results at ART SG: Southeast Asia’s leading art fair, located in Singapore, saw a slow start, with a $1.2 million sale for a 1969 Picasso drawing leading the way thus far.

This week: Arizona Car Week, featuring the Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson auction and an RM Sotheby’s auction, each with a number of seven-figure cars on the block.

Today: President-elect Trump’s inauguration; College Football Playoff championship between Ohio State and Notre Dame.

Wednesday: The Jeff Beck Guitar Collection auction at Christie’s.

Thursday: Oscar nominations announced.

Friday: Declaration of Independence auction at Sotheby’s at 2 PM ET; Existing home sales report released; Consumer sentiment report released.