Alternative Investing Report - February 17, 2026

*as of 2/16; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

A rare Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card previously owned by influencer Logan Paul set an all-time record when it sold for $16.5 million, smashing even Paul’s lofty pre-sale estimates. It not only broke the record for the most expensive Pokémon card ever, which was set when he bought this card for $5.275 million in 2021, but it set a new record for any trading card ever sold. Only a few dozen of these cards were ever created, and this is the only copy to be graded a perfect 10. The card also came with a diamond necklace with an estimated value of $75,000.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The buyer was revealed to be AJ Scaramucci, a venture capitalist and the son of SkyBridge capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, who stated an ambition to collect other “grails” such as a T-Rex fossil and the Declaration of Independence via a new website called TreasureTrove. It says something that a Pokémon card can now be legitimately categorized with epic grails like that, but the ultimate price is certainly an outlier thanks to Paul’s social media reach. The card is a 1 of 1, and Paul’s estimated $8 million profit after fees will certainly boost interest in the space, but the result speaks to the importance of provenance and publicity in any auction.

Vincent's Slava Rubin, Milk Road's John Gillen and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund discuss the current state of crypto, gold, and prediction markets, and the shift towards financial entertainment in investing.

🪙 X to launch crypto trading: Elon Musk’s social media platform is reportedly planning to offer its users the ability to directly trade crypto and stocks straight from their timelines. The company says this feature will be available in the next few weeks, and comes as the platform is also developing X Money, a digital payments system.

🏢 Retail recovery: Net absorption in the U.S. retail sector hit 11.9 million square feet in Q4, and increased demand outstripped supply, as lagging development has led to shortages. General retail and neighborhood strip centers had strong numbers, as did high-quality assets across the spectrum.

🦄 New unicorns: There were 31 startups that exceeded billion-dollar valuations in January, the highest total for any month since June 2022, with nine coming from the AI sector and a number in other AI-adjacent sectors.

🎨 Sotheby’s March auction: The auction house’s March 4 contemporary art auction in London will be headlined by four works from the Lewis Collection, including a Francis Bacon self-portrait with an estimated price tag of more than $16 million.

🏡 All-cash purchases drop: The number of buyers paying for houses in cash fell to 29% in December, the lowest percentage since 2020, as slightly lower mortgage rates and less buying competition led more people to finance purchases.

🚀 Talkiatry fundraise: The telepsychiatry startup raised a $210 million round at an undisclosed valuation, and said its revenues grew 17x between 2021 and 2024. The raise highlights investor demand for fast-growing healthtech startups.

A 25-acre parcel of vacant land on the south shore of the Hawaiian island Kauai is being sold at a bankruptcy auction on April 13, with bids being accepted starting now. The property is in a prime location between the Kukui’ula Golf Course and the Shops at Kukui’ula in the main commercial hub of the area. The land is zoned for a hotel and was meant to be a $227 million 85-room luxury resort alongside 215 residential units before the developer filed for bankruptcy last July. The land last changed hands for $24 million in 2021 but potential buyers will face an uphill battle restarting the development plans, with rising costs across the board.