Alternative Investing Report - August 5, 2025

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*as of 8/4; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

The collectible world’s biggest yearly event, the National Sports Collectors Convention, took place last week outside Chicago, and for the third straight year it achieved a new record-high attendance. Some takeaways from the show as reported by collectibles media company cllct include the dominance of the grading company PSA, positive results for card dealers, the growing popularity of trade nights, and the relative absence of non-sports cards.

➨ TAKEAWAY: There was some concern that the success of New York’s Fanatics Fest would cut into the popularity of the National, but that has not come to pass. That there are now two annual conventions drawing six-figure crowds is a strong sign for the sports collectibles industry. Anecdotally, the current sports card market seems to be back on the upswing, with growing demand for items across all price points, especially towards the higher end.

In this episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund discussed CoreWeave, the AI infrastructure powerhouse about to IPO at a $35B valuation. They looked at the then-upcoming IPO, the competitive landscape, and CoreWeave’s future prospects. They also analyzed the company's rapid growth, its relationship with NVIDIA and its unique market position.‍

Since the discussion CoreWeave has gone public and seen its share price rise 160% as of August 4.

🪙 Bullish IPO: The Peter Thiel-backed crypto exchange is seeking a valuation of up to $4.2 billion in its upcoming IPO, and looking to capitalize on the surge in investor interest in crypto-based companies.

🤖 ChatGPT growth: As OpenAI finalized an $8.3 billion funding round, it announced that ChatGPT hit 700 million weekly users, up 40% from March and more than 4x where it was last year. The service also now has more than 5 million paying business users, up from 3 million in June.

🏡 Mortgage rates fall: With investors now anticipating a Fed rate cut in September, the average 30-year mortgage rate dipped to 6.57%, hitting its lowest level in 10 months.

🏢 CRE investment volume climbs: U.S. investment sales volume rose 25% in the first half of the year, with deal count climbing 15%. Both multifamily and office sales volume is picking up, particularly in major metro areas.

🚀 Top weekly VC raises: The fintech Ramp’s $500 million funding round was the biggest raise last week, with five of the ten $100 million-plus raises going to AI-related startups.

🎨 Karpidas collection auction: In mid-September in London, the art collection of British socialite Pauline Karpidas is going to be auctioned at Sotheby’s, with 250 items estimated to sell for more than $80 million.

🤖 Vast Data fundraise: The AI infrastructure provider is in talks for a funding round that could value the company at $30 billion, more than triple its last value of $9.1 billion in 2023.

🚀 Point72 venture fund: Steve Cohen’s hedge fund is stepping deeper into the VC world and looking to raise $400 million to invest in seed and Series A rounds of defense, space, energy, and security startups.

A 90-foot yacht that once belonged to the late singer Jimmy Buffett is hitting the auction block on September 4. Originally built in 1999, the ship was refit in 2020. It has 4 staterooms, each with an in-suite bathroom, and can fit 9 guests and 4 crew members. The yacht was previously listed for sale for $2.7 million, but if you want to cruise over to Margaritaville in style, the starting bid in this auction is $1.2 million.