Alternative Investing Report - December 6, 2024

*as of 12/5; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, 30YM

An unopened case of 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee hockey cards sold for $2.52 million at Heritage auctions last night, setting a record for the most expensive “sealed wax” item in history. The case contains 16 boxes of 48 packs each. It initially sold for $3.72 million in February, but the buyer failed to pay. The case had been found in a home in Saskatchewan and is believed to be the only sealed case of its kind in existence.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee set contains Wayne Gretzky’s rookie card, the most desirable hockey card in existence, and the driver of the bulk of the value residing in the case. There are an estimated 27 Gretzky rookie cards in the case, and if even one of them is in perfect condition, the buyer could see a hefty profit. There are only 2 examples graded PSA 10, and one sold for $3.75 million in 2021. It is unclear whether the buyer will open the case and sell the unopened boxes (which can go for $200,000 each), open the boxes in search of a Gretzky PSA 10, or simply hold onto the case and leave it sealed.

Join us on December 16 at 12 PM ET for a discussion about the future of film financing. Dive in with three industry insiders - FilmHedge founder Jon Gosier, Slated’s head of film finance Jay Burnley, and Republic’s head of film Marc Iserlis - about investment opportunities in this exciting asset class.

VC funding to crypto startups fell by 31% in Q3, and November saw a 43% decrease, despite Bitcoin’s post-election run-up to $100,000. The number of deals fell slightly, from 99 to 90, and infrastructure, DeFi and gaming companies raised the most funds.

➨ TAKEAWAY: A crypto market boom does not necessarily mean there will be an increase in crypto VC investment, as some investors could choose to park their funds in Bitcoin and other top coins. But this bull market run is likely related to the hope that the incoming administration will offer tax breaks for crypto companies and remove regulations that have hindered the industry. Those changes would point to a friendly environment for crypto startups, and one that should attract increased investment.

🤖 AI & Crypto czar: Incoming President Trump named VC, podcaster and PayPal vet David Sacks to be his “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar,” a new position to guide policy involving those two industries, though it is unclear how much power he will actually wield.

🎻 Stradivarius auction: In February, Sotheby’s will be auctioning the 1714 “Joachim-Ma Stradivarius” violin which with a high estimate of $18 million would break the record for a musical instrument sale.

🏡 Homebuying demand is up: Increases in mortgage applications and tour requests have pushed Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index to its highest level since September 2023.

🪙 Memecoin troubles: Influencer Haliey Welch, better known as the “Hawk Tuah” girl could face legal troubles after her memecoin pumped-and-dumped, with insiders allegedly controlling 80-90% of the tokens at launch.

🎨 AI authentication: The Zurich-based Germann Auction House sold a watercolor that was authenticated entirely by the AI authentication company Art Recognition, in a first for the industry. The artwork sold for nearly twice the high estimate.

💵 Insight sells stake of Veeam: The private equity firm Insight Partners sold a $2 billion stake in Veeam, which values the cloud data startup at $15 billion, triple its valuation from 2020. Insight remains the majority shareholder, and Veeam still intends to IPO in the future.

Monday: 🏡 Pending home sales, 🎨 Roman plate controversy
Tuesday: 🚘 Dubai car auction, 🪙 Crypto market update
Wednesday: 🚀 Secondary discounts, 🚜 Farmland ownership
Thursday: 🪙 Bitcoin hits $100K, 🏡 2025 market outlook

Have a great weekend!