Alternative Investing Report - April 22, 2026

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*as of 4/21; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

OpenAI and Anthropic get an outsized level of attention, and for good reason - OpenAI’s recent fundraise at an $852 billion valuation, and Anthropic’s rumored $800 billion valuation makes them two of the biggest private companies ever. However, it’s not just those two behemoths that are seeing their valuations grow exponentially within the AI industry, it’s startups of all sizes and stages. Cursor, the AI coding startup is raising $2 billion at a $50 billion valuation, nearly double its valuation from November, and over 100x from the price just 18 months ago. The Jeff Bezos-backed AI lab Project Prometheus is raising $10 billion at a $38 billion valuation, a notable figure for a pre-revenue company.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Nearly every day brings new fundraising rounds for AI startups that double their valuation or more, and at valuations that seem outlandish for companies without revenue or products. At some point the bubble will burst and only the strongest of these companies will survive, but there are still a lot of opportunities for investors willing to take a risk and ride the wave.

📊 U.S. retail sales spike: Thanks largely to a record increase in gas purchases, U.S. retail sales grew by 1.7% last month, above expectations, and are up 4% year-over-year. This data, along with recent inflation reports, makes it likely that the Fed will not cut interest rates anytime soon.

🎰 Polymarket fundraise: The prediction market startup is reportedly raising an additional $400 million in funding at a $15 billion valuation, nearly double its last reported valuation. The platform saw a 90% increase in trading volume in Q1, though its volume and valuation are now lagging behind its rival Kalshi.

🏢 Class B outperforming: Occupancy levels and steady income have boosted Class B apartments in the eyes of investors, as new supply and affordability concerns hurt Class A assets and falling demand hurts Class C properties.

🏡 Pending home sales tick up: According to the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales rose 1.5% in March, despite higher mortgage rates and the uncertainty brought by the Iran War. Still, pending sales are down 1.1% year-over-year, with only the South seeing positive annual growth.

💵 Fundraising hits 3-year low: As the private credit sector wobbles, fundraising for direct lending strategies fell to $10.7 billion in Q1, the lowest quarterly total in the past three years.

🎨 Unseen Calder to be sold: A never-before-seen mobile sculpture by the American renowned for those works is being sold in Paris to commemorate the new Calder retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton.

After its price jumped by 6,000% last week, the little known Rave token got a lot of attention for clear price manipulation — likely by the project’s team who holds 90% of the token’s supply in only three wallets. We wrote here to stay away from the token, and sure enough, the price collapsed more than 90% from $16 back down to under a dollar, leaving those who bought on the way up holding the bag. Anytime there is a suspicious short-term spike like this, the corresponding fall is just around the corner. This is a good reminder that crypto, mainstream as it has become, still has pockets that are more like the Wild West. Rave’s value just doubled again in the past 24 hours, and the wild ride the token is on does not appear to be over just yet.