Alternative Investing Report - June 24, 2026

*as of 6/23; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

Venture capital had a record-breaking first half of 2026, but much of that was due to three companies - SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic, which together represented 86% of all venture-growth deal value so far. Early-stage dealmaking has also picked back up, with seed stage and Series A funding rounds on pace to hit an all-time high. Once share lockups expire, SpaceX’s historic IPO will provide a massive amount of liquidity - more than all VC-backed IPOs in the past decade combined.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The current VC environment has been dominated by the Big Three companies, and with OpenAI and Anthropic eyeing IPOs, it could represent a potential sea change for the industry. How the IPOs perform and how SpaceX’s share price holds up as lockups expire will play a key role in whether investors who cash out will return to the ecosystem. Another remaining question is which companies will benefit from the increased liquidity - will investors continue to concentrate capital in late-stage AI companies, or will they spread their bets to earlier stage companies across sectors?

In the newest episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin talks with iConnections CEO and co-founder Ron Biscardi about the SpaceX IPO and the future of private markets.

🏢 Senior housing boom: Average senior housing rents are now $5,479 per month, up 28% from 2020, a rate of growth that has outpaced the rest of the rental market. Growing demand from the aging population along with a stalled construction pipeline makes it likely that rents will continue to grow.

💵 Apollo limits withdrawals: For the second straight quarter, the asset manager has limited investor redemptions in its $26 billion retail private credit fund. Withdrawal requests rose to 17%, well above the 5% cap, with international investors making up the majority of the requests. All in all, the fund is expected to see a net outflow of $400 million in Q2.

⚾ Vintage card records: Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Walter Johnson cards from the 1915 Cracker Jack all set new records in their grades at the June Robert Edward Auctions sale. This result is yet another sign that the vintage card market has rebounded to and perhaps exceeded its pandemic-era peak.

🤖 AI cybersecurity risk: The Five Eyes group of intelligence agencies that includes the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand released a joint statement to warn about the risk that advanced AI models pose to cybersecurity. While AI has been effective in identifying exploits and bugs so that government and businesses can patch them, it also makes hacking much easier.

🏡 Most competitive markets: The metros with the highest share of homes selling for above asking price are in the New York suburbs and the San Francisco Bay Area, led by Newark, San Francisco, San Jose, Nassau County, and Oakland. Overall, though, the share of U.S. homes selling for above asking is at its lowest level since May 2020.

🎨 Top Art Basel sales: The most prestigious art fair in the world had a number of notable sales, led by a $35 million Picasso, but sales were robust across all levels, with emerging and middle market works seeing increased volume alongside the high-end works.

The privacy token Zcash (ZEC) has had an eventful June. It started with news of a potential massive exploit that was discovered by Anthropic’s AI model Claude and caused the price of Zcash to crash from more than $600 to below $300 in one day. The price quickly recovered to $530 but dropped significantly in the past week as the token continues to be volatile. It remains to be seen if Zcash can regain the momentum that brought its token price from around $200 in early March to above $650 in May. Given its recent volatility, spiking back up to its peak level or dropping all the way back to its March level are both distinct possibilities.