Alternative Investing Report - January 21, 2026

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*as of 1/20; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

In the wake of President Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on European allies, the S&P 500 fell by more than 2% for its worst day since October, and the Nasdaq dropped by 2.4%, putting both in negative territory for 2026. Bitcoin dropped below $90,000 and the total crypto market lost about 4% of its value. Meanwhile, gold surged yet again to another all-time high, as investors fled U.S.-related assets.

➨ TAKEAWAY: When Trump announced his tariff intentions over the holiday weekend, a negative reaction from the markets was expected, so the decline was not a huge surprise. The question is where the market goes from here, as it fell significantly last year after tariffs were instituted but rebounded quickly when it became clear the tariff-induced dip was a buying opportunity. A short-term drop could be the case again here, or perhaps traders do not yet actually believe Trump will go through with the new measures, and any implementation on February 1 could cause the market to fall further.

In this mini-episode of Smart Humans, Vincent co-founders Slava Rubin and Adam Katz preview the year ahead for crypto, particularly Bitcoin, and discuss the rise of stablecoins, and the evolving role of digital asset treasuries and tokenization in the financial ecosystem.

🪙 Tokenized stocks: The New York Stock Exchange announced that it is developing a platform for tokenized stocks and ETFs that will effectively transform the equities market into a 24/7 operation. The platform would need to gain regulatory approval, but if and when it does, it could lead to a massive shift in the way the stock market operates.

🎨 Western art beats expectations: Christie’s auction of William Koch’s Western art collection recorded $69.4 million in sales, beating the high estimate of $62.9 million, with the three centerpiece works by Frederic Remington all selling for well above expectations.

🚀 Clear Street IPO: Just a few days after a rumored funding round at a $12 billion valuation, the securities and derivatives brokerage firm filed for an IPO on the Nasdaq under the ticker “CSIG.” The company recorded a 160% revenue jump in the first three quarters of 2025, and it could be the first big IPO of 2026.

💵 Secondaries deals booming: There was $226 billion of deal volume in secondary private market asset sales last year, a 41% increase over 2025, as sellers sought liquidity and buyers hunted discounted assets.

⚾ Mile High’s largest auction: Led by six-figure sales for vintage baseball cards, Mile High sold more than 3,500 lots in its largest auction ever, showing the depth and breadth of the vintage card market, even at a non-major auction house.

🏡 Invitation Homes acquires ResiBuilt: The single-family rental powerhouse, which owns more than 85,000 homes nationwide, spent $89 million to buy ResiBuilt, a build-to-rent developer that has constructed 4,200 homes in the South since its inception.

We talked about the privacy coin sector last week, after Zcash dropped more than 20% in value when its developers resigned to start a new company. While Zcash dropped another 15% this week, its competitor Monero — which rose by 50% to a new all-time high last week — had the week’s most notable drop in the top-100 by market cap, giving back a significant proportion of those gains. While still double the value from last August, Monero has fallen 37% from its all-time high achieved last Wednesday. The quick rise-and-fall should not be a surprise to crypto market watchers, but there could be a reason beyond just crypto volatility. One theory for the quick rise in Monero’s value last week, beyond Zcash’s issues, was that $282 million stolen in a hack was converted entirely to Monero, causing its price to rocket up. With that artificial demand gone, and the crypto market swooning, it is no surprise Monero has fallen hard this week.