Alternative Investing Report - July 25, 2025

*as of 7/24; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, 30YM

A 2024 Panini Flawless Caitlin Clark 1 of 1 signed rookie card sold for $660,000, nearly doubling the all-time record for any card featuring a female athlete. The previous record of $366,000 had been set in March for a different Clark card, and another Clark card to be auctioned next month could exceed this latest record.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The final result of this auction beat expectations and is a great sign for both the sports card market and for women’s sports. While Clark’s popularity is unique, it has increased media attention on the WNBA — and a rising tide lifts all boats. Other young stars such as Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and Cameron Brink have also seen their card markets flourish and the women’s sports card market looks poised for growth.

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 includes Christine Healey of Healey Pre-IPO who discusses investment opportunities in Stripe and the dynamics of accessing shares in the company.

🤖 AI action plan: The Trump administration released its new AI action plan, which calls for accelerating innovation, building out AI infrastructure in the U.S., and making U.S.-based AI hardware and software the world standard. The plan also includes a reduction of regulations and — notably — does not include anything about transparency or safeguards on the technology.

🚀 Alternative protein startups: While the lab-grown meat space has struggled to attract funding recently, other alternative protein startups have been thriving, led by Perfect Day, which creates dairy proteins, and Meati, a fungi-based meat alternative company.

🏡 New home sales: Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. were up by 0.6% in June but still down 6.6% year-over-year, while the median sales price of those homes is down 2.9% year-over-year.

🪙 Christie’s creates crypto real estate team: The auction house is reportedly launching a new division that will assist buyers who want to use crypto to make real estate purchases.
 
⚾ Barry Bonds home plate: A year after last being auctioned, the home plate from Barry Bonds’ record-setting 756th home run will be sold this Saturday at SCP auctions.

🎨 New bidding structure: Phillips auction house will debut a priority bidding structure, where buyers can submit a written bid above the low estimate up to 48 hours in advance of an auction and receive a significant discount on buyer’s premium if they end up winning the item.

Monday: 🎬 Rosebud sale, 🏡 Housing market update
Tuesday: 💵 Private credit in retirement plans, ⚾ The National
Wednesday: 🚀 Figma IPO, 🪙 Bitcoin whale sales
Thursday: 🚀 Secondary markets, 🪙 Crypto access

Have a great weekend!