Alternative Investing Report - January 22, 2025

*as of 1/21; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

President Trump announced the Stargate Project, a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank that is committing $500 billion to AI infrastructure over the next four years. The venture will bed chaired by Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son and will also partner with Arm, Microsoft, and NVIDIA. Its first project, which is already underway, is focused on the construction of data centers in Texas.

➨ TAKEAWAY: A statement released by OpenAI says that Stargate will “secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs and generate massive economic benefit for the entire world.” The AI industry has rapidly become a political and economic powerhouse, and continues to be the dominant force in the startup world. This commitment to creating infrastructure is also a boon for the data center sector within industrial real estate, which was already expected to see significant growth over the next few years.

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 driving fintech innovation ahead.

On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order for emergency price relief on housing, directing the heads of executive departments and agencies to work to lower the cost of housing and expand supply. No specific actions were mentioned in the order, though it implied that one priority would be to reduce regulation in new home construction.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The National Association of Homebuilders issued a statement commending the action, though others have expressed disappointment over the lack of specific policy proposals. The best way to tackle the affordability issue is to create more housing, and if the federal government can encourage homebuilding, it will lead to lower prices, particularly for new construction. Investors should keep an eye on what policies do end up being proposed and enacted and how it will affect their local markets.

🪙 Crypto task force: SEC acting chair Mark Uyeda launched a new crypto task force with the goal of developing a clear regulatory framework for the industry, as the new administration has promised a more crypto-friendly environment.

🏡 Home prices rising: For the first time since May 2022, the median home sale price increased year-over-year in the top 50 metro areas in the U.S., with Cleveland (15%) leading the way, followed by Milwaukee (14.5%) and Philadelphia (14%).

🚀 Female founders getting rarer: Companies with at least one female founder made up 22.7% of total VC deals, the lowest proportion since 2017, a marked decline for early-stage startups founded by women.

🍷 Zachys sales breakdown: The wine auctioneer realized $63 million in sales in 2024 across 51 auctions, with 39% of sales coming from Burgundy wines, 29% from Bordeaux, and 15% from California.

🪙 Bitcoin volatility hits six-month high: As uncertainty over the new administration’s crypto plans grows, multiple measures of volatility hit their highest levels since August.

🤖 Attractive AI sectors for VC: There are AI startups in all different types of industries creating a litany of different products, but VCs are looking for companies that are targeting specific enterprise use cases, as well as companies building out AI infrastructure.

While Trumpcoin and associated memecoins captured the bulk of the attention of the crypto market this week, Raydium, the native token of an automated market maker on Solana, saw the highest gain of any non-memecoin in the top 100 by market cap. The token is now up more than 500% in the past 12 months, and is finally approaching the levels it hit in late 2021.

Advertiser’s Disclosures

This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile Reg A offering. Please read the offering statement at https://invest.modemobile.com

¹ Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.

² The rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period.

³ A minimum investment of $1,950 is required to receive bonus shares. 100% bonus shares are offered on investments of $9,950+.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Start-up investments are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns.

DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck.