Alternative Investing Report - March 24, 2026

*as of 3/23; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

VCX, the newly public listing of Fundrise’s Innovation Fund, has shot up exponentially since its public debut last week, closing yesterday at $191.81 per share, a gain of 63%. The share price is now up more than 6X since it debuted at $31 per share, and after-hours trading has pushed it up even further to $247 per share. The fund’s net asset value (NAV) coming into the offering was $18.97, meaning that investors are clearly willing to pay a premium for exposure to in-demand Pre-IPO companies, such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and Anduril.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The trajectory of the share price has put VCX into meme-stock territory, and the unique circumstances of the offering has a lot to do with it. Obviously there is heavy demand for shares of the top Pre-IPO companies, but the vast majority of VCX shares are locked up for 6 months, so the number of outstanding shares is small. This has limited access for public investors, causing the price to surge. In contrast, Robinhood’s RVI venture fund, which does not have as sought-after a portfolio and a much larger public float, is sitting right around its IPO price of $25 per share. Investors should note that another public venture fund, Destiny XYZ (NYSE: DXYZ) shot up way above its IPO price but has overall been trading flat in the past two years.

In the newest episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin talks with Orchard Global CEO Paul Horvath about Europe v. the U.S. and current macroeconomic trends.

🏢 RE fundraising on the rise: After two years of declines, global private real estate fundraising rose 13% in 2025, though the top 10 real estate funds accounted for 40% of all capital raised. Sectors that accounted for the growth include data centers, single-family rentals, healthcare facilities, and logistics.

💵 BCRED posts loss: Blackstone’s flagship $83 billion private credit fund had its first monthly loss since 2022 and is flat so far in 2026, another worrying sign for the asset class.

⚾ Record Ohtani jersey: A jersey worn by Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani in the World Baseball Classic just sold for $1.5 million, shattering the old record of $250,000 for an Ohtani jersey and continuing the exponential growth trend for Ohtani memorabilia.

🏡 Home-flipping profits fall: With financing costs rising and buying demand falling, it’s hard out here for a house flipper, with the number of flips down by 4% and the lowest average ROI since 2008.

🪙 ETF inflows and outflows: Last week saw $230 million in net inflows for crypto-based ETFs, with Bitcoin leading the way, attracting $219 million in net inflows. Solana also saw positive inflows, but Ethereum had net outflows of $27.5 million, a negative turnaround from the week before despite BlackRock’s new staking ETF.

🤖 AI cow collars: Halter, a New Zealand-based startup that makes AI-powered smart collars for cows, is in talks for a new funding round that would double its valuation to $2 billion.

The Historic Pineapple Apartments, a prominent commercial building in the Burns Square area of downtown Sarasota, FL, just hit the market for $8.5 million. The property has seven retail businesses on the first floor, while the top floor holds an 8-unit boutique hotel / vacation rental, as well as a 3,000 square foot owner’s suite. Located just two blocks from the water, the 13,700 square-foot building last changed hands in 1986, making this a rare opportunity.