Alternative Investing Report - October 8, 2025

*as of 10/7; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

The price of gold surpassed $4,000 per ounce for the first time ever, hitting a new all-time high yet again. The value of gold is up 50% this year, while the U.S. dollar index has fallen by 10%. Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs just raised their 2026 year-end price forecast from $4,300 per ounce to $4,900 per ounce, implying more than a 20% gain by the end of next year.

➨ TAKEAWAY: As the dollar weakens and economic uncertainty crosses the globe, safe haven assets like gold benefit. Recently, the U.S. government shutdown and Fed rate cut have boosted the price, as gold looks more attractive than U.S. treasuries while also acting as a portfolio and inflation hedge. With more Fed rate cuts on the horizon and the shutdown persisting, it is no surprise that Goldman raised its price target.

In the latest episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin was joined by Grayscale’s Zach Pandl and Fundstrat’s Sean Farrell to discuss the future of digital assets beyond Bitcoin. They talked about emerging products and strategies for investors seeking more broad-based exposure. They also provided insights into how to access crypto investments, challenges of pricing and valuation, and made predictions for the future of the crypto market.

🪙 Grayscale staking ETF: For the first time ever, a spot crypto ETF will have staking capabilities, as Grayscale’s Ethereum Mini Trust, Ethereum Trust ETF and Solana Trust can now generate yield for investors.

🚀 Cerebras withdraws IPO: On the heels of its $1.1 billion fundraise, the AI startup filed to withdraw its IPO paperwork more than a year after initially filing. This withdrawal is a prime example of how massive fundraises allow companies to stay private for longer and why it’s important for investors to be able to access the pre-IPO space.

🤖 OpenAI deal with AMD: In exchange for OpenAI deploying up to 6 gigawatts of AMD chips, the AI startup could receive up to a 10% stake in the chipmaker, diversifying its exposure after it reached a hardware supply deal with Nvidia last month.

💵 Bain’s new mega-fund: The private equity giant closed a new $14 billion fund, the fourth biggest U.S. buyout fund and an improvement on its previous $11.8 billion fund.

🏡 Canceled agreements: More than 15% of pending home sales were canceled in August, a record-high rate, as financing becomes more difficult to obtain and economic uncertainty leads to cold feet for both buyers and sellers.

🎨 Fabergé egg auction: The “Winter Egg” that was once gifted by Tsar Nicholas II to his mother is being auctioned in December at Christie’s and carries an estimate of $27 million.

While Bitcoin and other major altcoins fell in price yesterday, Binance Coin (BNB) continued to rocket up the charts rising around 6% yesterday and more than 27% in the last week, becoming the #3 cryptocurrency by market cap and reaching a new all-time high. The native token of the biggest exchange in the world, BNB is up around 50% in the past month and has more than doubled in the last six months. Its blockchain activity has surged, partially because of Aster, a decentralized perpetual exchange that has skyrocketed in popularity in the past month. Investing in BNB does rely on Binance remaining the top exchange in the world as well as the continuing health of the crypto market, but it’s been a good bet so far in 2025.