Alternative Investing Report - July 18, 2025

*as of 7/17; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, 30YM

The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass the GENIUS Act, which now advances to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law. The bill will become the first major crypto-related legislation to become law, and it focuses on stablecoin regulation. The House also passed the CLARITY Act, which aims to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets and will now go to the Senate, as well as a bill that would ban the Federal Reserve from issuing its own stablecoin.

➨ TAKEAWAY: All three bills were expected to pass this week, and while the price of Bitcoin has remained relatively stable with the news, major secondary coins such as Ethereum, Solana, Dogecoin, and Cardano have all seen significant gains in the past 24 hours. The 3rd biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, XRP, blew past its all-time high and is up more than 37% over the past week.

Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Marcelo Ballvé of Sacra discuss the evolution and current state of Stripe, the $90 billion payments company. They explore Stripe's business model, revenue streams, competitive landscape, and future growth potential, including the impact of stablecoins and AI on its operations. The discussion also includes Christine Healey of Healey Pre-IPO who discusses investment opportunities in Stripe and the dynamics of accessing shares in the company.

Auction sales at the three major auction houses - Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips - fell by 6.2% in the first half of 2025 to the lowest non-pandemic level in the last decade. The category hit the hardest was post-war and contemporary, which fell by 19.3%, while decorative arts and furniture saw a 20.4% gain and Old Masters jumped by 35.6%. On its own, Christie’s reported $2.1 billion in sales in H1, equal to last year’s numbers, buoyed largely by a 29% gain in sales of luxury goods such as cars, watches, handbags, and jewelry.

➨ TAKEAWAY: While no one would say that a decline in sales is good news, given the current uncertain economic times, a 6% drop is actually better than many would have forecasted, and represents a slowing pace of decline compared to the last two years. The number of lots sold at auction actually rose by 1.3% year-over-year, and the lower end of the market has held up comparatively well.

 
🏡 Homebuilder confidence: The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index edged up 1 point in July, though it remains well below average, and a record-high 38% of builders reported cutting prices during the month.

🤖 OpenEvidence fundraise: The AI healthtech startup announced a funding round of $210 million at a $3.5 billion valuation, a huge increase over its $1 billion valuation in February.

💵 Private credit secondaries: Collier Capital is launching a new private credit secondaries fund aimed at high net-worth individual investors that aims to offer greater liquidity than conventional private credit investments.

📊 Retail sales increase: Exceeding expectations, U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% in June, a strong turnaround after a 0.9% decline in May, even as the threat of tariff-induced price hikes hovers over the economy.
 
🚜 Agtech update: The newly passed “Big Beautiful Bill” will likely benefit large-scale farms more than smaller competitors, which could also affect agtech startups negatively if it shrinks their customer bases.

🍎 Apple-1 sale: One of the 50 original Apple-1 computers from 1976 built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sold for $571,500 at Sotheby’s, just under the high estimate of $600,000.

Monday: 💵 iCapital fundraise
Tuesday: 🚀 VC funding, 🤖 xAI update
Wednesday: 📊 CPI report, 🪙 Crypto week
Thursday: 🏢 Data centers, 🦕 Natural history auction

Have a great weekend!