Alternative Investing Report - October 9, 2024

_{*as of 10/8; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CPPI}

In the coming days, Florida will be hit by Hurricane Milton, which is shaping up to be a potentially devastating natural disaster coming on the heels of September’s Hurricane Helene. The two back-to-back hurricanes has many re-evaluating the already flagging real estate market in the Sunshine State. Homeowners’ and flood insurance has grown exorbitantly expensive and many insurers have left the market altogether. It’s not only residential real estate at risk, commercial real estate owners are facing the same issues.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Of course, there are more important considerations for Floridians than the real estate market, but for those who are fortunate enough to escape damage, the loss of value of their property is a real concern. Florida has seen significant growth in the number of homes listed on the market, as people are looking to leave the state, especially those who migrated their during the pandemic. With supply up, and demand down, and likely to fall even further after this hurricane, expect prices to fall significantly in many Florida markets.

Fortnite creator and Pre-IPO startup Epic Games won a huge legal battle against Google, as a federal judge ruled that the tech giant’s Google Play app store is an illegal monopoly. As a result, it must open up to third-party developers for three years starting November 1. Among other changes, rival app stores, including Epic’s Game Store, can now have access to Google Play apps and tell users how to pay outside of the Play store and avoid the 30% app tax Google charges. Google is going to appeal, so this decision is not yet final.

➨ TAKEAWAY: A lot of competition between tech companies is taking place in the courtroom these days, as Epic also sued Apple, but lost most of its claims there. However, if this ruling holds, it could create a precedent to discourage monopolistic behaviors from Google and other tech giants. That would lead to opportunities for upstart competitors in this space and also potentially others.

In the latest episode of Smart Humans, SkyBridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci joined Vincent co-founder Slava Rubin to discuss the upcoming election and his investment predictions, including how high he thinks Bitcoin will go. Listen now!

🚀 Biotech IPOs: September was the most active month for biotech IPOs this year, and their initial success has buoyed expectations for three upcoming IPOs from UpStream Bio, CAMP4 Theraputics, and CeriBell.

🪙 Crypto.com sues SEC: After it received a Wells Notice from the SEC indicating impending action, Crypto.com is fighting back by suing the SEC. The crypto exchange is claiming that the SEC has overstepped its jurisdictional limits and wants certain products be regulated by the CFTC instead.

💵 Private credit bankruptcies: There were 26 private companies that went bankrupt in 2023 that had been financed by private credit, more than triple the total from 2022.

🚀 AI-assisted mining: Kobold metals, a startup using AI to help detect lithium and copper deposits, has raised nearly $500 million at a $2 billion valuation, double its valuation from last year.

🎨 Mid-market steady: While the high-end art market has struggled this year due to the economy and geopolitical uncertainty, the mid-tier market has seen less volatility.

🎬 Props auction: Notable items from the Star Wars, Batman, and James Bond film series make up some of the 1,800 props going to auction next month, with an estimated total value of more than $13 million.

The biggest gainer in the top-100 coins by market cap, by far, this week, was the dog memecoin NEIRO, which only debuted in August and has skyrocketed 3700% in the past four weeks. The price growth comes among a broader surge in the memecoin market, with the 2nd biggest gainer this week being Solana-based memecoin Popcat (POPCAT). Memecoins have no inherent value and investing in them is akin to gambling, but some, like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, have had long staying power.