Alternative Investing Report - May 22, 2025

*as of 5/21; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

For the first time ever, Bitcoin’s price topped $110,000, setting a new all-time high and breaking the previous record set in January. Since that time, Bitcoin’s price fell 30%, hitting a low of under $75,000 in early April in the aftermath of the new tariff policy, but it rebounded quickly.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Bitcoin has benefited as tensions around the trade war ease, and the possibility of a ceasefire in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war further buoyed traders’ hopes for a more stable geopolitical environment. In the past, bear markets have seen Bitcoin’s value drop by as much as 80% and lasted significantly longer than three months. The break of the pattern could indicate its maturation as an asset, and that investors are taking a longer-term outlook and not panic selling when its price drops.

In this episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin talks with Milk Road's co-owner Kyle Reidhead about the crypto space, the importance of stablecoins, and his predictions for the market.

For the first time since 2022, Redfin’s Home Price Index saw a monthly decline, with the average repeat sale price falling 0.1% in April, though prices are still up 4.1% year-over-year according to this method. Seven markets have seen yearly price declines, all in Texas or Florida, while Detroit had the highest yearly gain at 12.4%. Meanwhile the Zillow Home Value Index, which uses a different method of calculation, recorded a 0.6% monthly gain in April, but just a 0.7% year-over-year gain. The worst-performing four markets on a yearly basis were also in Texas and Florida.

➨ TAKEAWAY: There is no doubt that housing price growth is slowing, and perhaps declining, as homebuying demand has continued to fall, while new listings and overall inventory grows. Major markets in Texas and Florida - including Austin, Tampa, Dallas, San Antonio, and Jacksonville - have been hit hardest due primarily to oversupply. How the market performs the rest of the year is largely going to be determined by any interest rate cuts and the overall macroeconomic environment.

🤖 OpenAI acquires io: The AI giant is shelling out $5 billion for io, a startup co-founded by legendary Apple designer Jony Ive, indicating its intention to create AI-powered devices that will directly compete with Apple products and could reshape the entire tech market.

🎨 Art Basel Qatar is coming: February 2026 will market the debut of Art Basel Qatar, the first major art fair in the Middle East and the fifth version of Art Basel worldwide. The region is a mostly untapped market with a lot of wealth, and expanding the art market could help boost its prospects.

📜 Abraham Lincoln auction: More than 140 items belonging to the Lincoln Presidential Foundation were auctioned yesterday, bringing in nearly $8 million, including blood-stained gloves from the night of his assassination that sold for $1.52 million.

🪙 Justin Sun’s Trumpcoin holdings: The founder of the crypto token Tron, also known for buying a $6 million banana last year, says that he is the #1 holder of President Trump’s memecoin. Perhaps not coincidentally, he is facing civil fraud charges from the SEC, and many are citing potential corruption concerns in this case.

🚀 CATL’s IPO: In the biggest global IPO of the 2025 so far, CATL - the world’s biggest EV battery maker - went public on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday and saw its shares rise by more than 16%.

🏢 Mesirow raises RE fund: The investment firm raised a $1.25 billion fund to invest into Class A multifamily assets in the top 25-30 U.S. metro areas, exceeding the size of its previous fund by 66%.

The actors’ union SAG-AFTRA filed an unfair labor complaint against Epic Games due to the company’s addition of an AI-powered Darth Vader bot in the popular game Fortnite. While the estate of the late actor James Earl Jones, who voiced Vader in the Star Wars films, struck its own deal with Epic, SAG-AFTRA says the company needed to separately negotiate with them. This is not going to be the last time AI is going to be used to replicate human performance, and investors can expect more negotiations and litigation over these issues going forward.