Alternative Investing Report - March 11, 2025

*as of 3/10; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

Equities and crypto markets took substantial hits yesterday, as investors worry that President Trump’s tariff policies could push the economy into a recession. The Nasdaq had its worst day since 2022, while the S&P 500 hit its lowest level since September, falling 2.7% and now down 7.2% since the inauguration, nearing “correction” territory. Elon Musk, who is now closely tied to Trump, had his company Tesla’s shares drop in value by a whopping 15% yesterday, now down by more than half since December. Bitcoin dropped below $80,000 for the first time since November, getting as low as $77,000 before rallying by the day’s end.

➨ TAKEAWAY: One week ago, we wrote “Buckle up, because the markets are likely to be chaotic in the short-term…Investors are moving into a risk-off posture, and crypto is facing headwinds both from the macro circumstances and from criticism surrounding the potential national reserve.” The situation remains much the same, and the headwinds for both the stock market and the crypto market have grown in velocity. Tesla’s decline poses concerns for the value of Musk’s privately traded companies SpaceX and Neuralink. Institutional investors, whose buying demand over the past year has been a major factor in the run-up of crypto prices, are starting to liquidate their positions in digital assets. Until the economic uncertainty surrounding the new administration’s policies gets resolved, expect further volatility.

In this episode of Smart Humans, Vincent CEO Eric Cantor and Sacra co-founder Jan-Erik Asplund looked at Anthropic, the American AI startup behind LLM model Claude. They cover the company’s rapid growth, the competitive landscape in AI, and how the recent emergence of DeepSeek could impact Anthropic's trajectory.

Two different crypto exchanges - Gemini and Kraken - are reportedly eyeing IPOs, partially as a result of the SEC dropping investigations into both companies. Gemini, the exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, has confidentially filed for an IPO and is working with bankers, though no final decision has been made. Kraken, whose CEO was at last week’s White House Crypto Summit, is looking into a public offering at the beginning of 2026.

➨ TAKEAWAY: While crypto prices are going through a rough patch, crypto companies are now facing a much friendlier regulatory environment, prompting many to look into the possibility of going public. Investors who are curious about crypto but wary of the wild swings in value of tokens could take a “picks and shovels” approach and look into the exchanges, which still generate revenue in bearish markets.

🎨 Global art market slump: The total value of art sold in 2024 was $9.9 billion, the lowest level since 2009, with the biggest decline coming from the Chinese market, which dropped to $1.8 billion from $4.9 billion in 2023.

🚀 VC dry powder: The amount of uninvested capital in VC funds between three and five years old has hit levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis. Fundraising levels were high in the pandemic-era, but with fewer investment opportunities, cash on hand is accumulating with investment deadlines looming.

🏡 Housing supply gap: The gap between supply and demand in the U.S. sat at an estimated 3.8 million homes at the end of 2024, a slight improvement over 2023, but still at a historically high level.

🤖 OpenAI-CoreWeave agreement: The two AI startups reached a 5 year, $11.9 billion agreement in which CoreWeave will provide AI infrastructure to OpenAI, while OpenAI will also receive $350 million worth of equity in CoreWeave in advance of its planned IPO.

🏢 Small multifamily properties rebound: Q4 saw the average value of multifamily properties between 5 and 50 units grow 0.7% after three straight quarters of declines. Loan origination volume also grew 5% in the quarter.

💵 Blackstone’s private credit fund: The alternative asset giant received SEC approval for its Blackstone Private Multi-Asset Credit and Income Fund (BMACX) to become available for purchase by individual investors starting in the second quarter.

A house built in 1675 with a connection to the Salem Witch Trials just hit the market for $600,000. The four bedroom, two bathroom, 2,300 square-foot house is located in Beverly, MA. It was originally built by William Cleaves, whose wife’s parents, Giles and Martha Corey, were accused of witchcraft and later executed during the infamous Witch Trials. Only three families have lived in the house in the past 350 years, and yours could be the fourth.