Hello and welcome to Alts Cafe.
The most important alternative investing stories each week, customized to your liking, best enjoyed over a cup of coffee.
Highlights:
- Private Equity: Crystal Palace FC backer Eagle Football Holdings files for US IPO
- Farmland: New legislation aims to illuminate foreign ownership of US farmland
- 🇨🇳 International Investing: China’s ‘crazy’ reverse credit cards let you “pay now, buy later”
- Cars: Is there a unique opportunity in “carbitrage?”
- Artwork: Anxious art collectors are increasingly turning to freeports
- Wine, Whiskey & Spirits: India leads the world in Scotch imports.
- Crypto: Coinbase seeking SEC approval to offer blockchain-based equities
- Collectibles, Culture and Luxury: Human-sized Labubu doll sells for over $150,000
- Sports: LA Lakers break sports sale record in $10 billion deal to Mark Walter
- Real Estate: Office oversupply shrinks thanks to demolitions and office-to-residential conversions
- Startups & VC: OpenAI outlines plan for democratic AI governance
- Music and Film: Suno and Udio hit with class action lawsuits
Let’s go
Table of Contents
International Investing
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Around the world…
- 🇨🇳 China’s ‘crazy’ reverse credit cards let you “pay now, buy later”
- 🇪🇺 Blue Euro Bonds rival US Treasuries as investors seek alternatives
- 🇸🇿 China offers zero tariffs on imports from all African countries except one
- 🇸🇬 Singapore’s self-storage sector faces space crunch amid rising demand
Private Equity & Private Credit
- Crystal Palace FC backer Eagle Football Holdings files for US IPO
- New ETF gives investors chance to act like a private equity giant
- Ohio greenlights first-ever venture capital hospital acquisition
- Asia-Pacific investors raise bets on private equity as shelter from global tensions
Discuss
Eagle Football Holdings, the multi-club ownership group led by American businessman John Textor, has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO, aiming to raise capital and bring its global football portfolio to public markets.
Our takeaway: The LA Lakers sale is making waves, but it’s mostly just closed-door capital between institutions and billionaires. This planned IPO offers something different: a chance for retail investors to get real exposure to the booming business of global football ownership. If Eagle pulls this off, it could open the floodgates for more public listings of sports conglomerates.
Farmland
- New legislation aims to illuminate foreign ownership of US farmland
- Indian farmers boost sowing of rice, pulses, and sugar cane
- ICE ordered to pause immigration raids on ag businesses
Discuss
Chinese entities now own 350,000 acres across 27 states, with properties dangerously close to military installations like MacDill Air Force Base. Senators Baldwin and Grassley introduced legislation to protect US farmland after foreign ownership reached 45 million acres, an 85% increase since 2010. 29 states have already passed their own restrictions on foreign land ownership — reflecting state-level support, even as federal legislation lags.
Our takeaway: Ukraine’s drone strike on Russia proved modern threats can materialize “from out of nowhere.” I think that US military bases near foreign-owned farms should be raising similar concerns. With thousands of ag drones already flying over American farmland, it’s not hard to imagine that land being used for more than crops…ahem. I’m not big on this kind of thinking usually. I don’t think we need to panic. But we do need policy.
What are your thoughts on foreign ownership of US farmland?
Cars
- Porsche Experience Centre Toronto auctions a 911 GT3 RS for charity
- Almost every used Tesla is falling in value
Ferrari “Carbitrage” Opportunity
Typically, importing a car from the UK to the US is so expensive that it’s not worthwhile. Between customs, duties, tariffs, federalization, and shipping, costs can run well into six figures for a luxury vehicle.
However, if the car is 25 years or older, you are exempt from paying most of those fees, specifically, the Trump tariffs and federalization.
This works best for enthusiast vehicles with limited supply, like the Ferrari F355 and air-cooled Porsche 911s. The margin on lower-tier cars evaporates with shipping, insurance, and other expenses.
Auto I is a new three-year investment opportunity by exploiting a legal import loophole in the U.S. for classic cars.
Thesis: Once a vehicle is 25+ years old, it’s exempt from emissions and safety regulations, allowing certain UK cars to be imported and sold at much higher U.S. prices.
Strategy: Buy iconic LHD (left-hand drive) UK vehicles. import them to the U.S. duty-free, and sell within ~6 months.
This is a follow-up to Altea’s successful Film I deal — same model, different asset class.
Artwork
- Anxious art collectors are increasingly turning to freeports
- Art Basel and Frieze set sights on next generation of art fair visitors
- The Louvre closed due to a strike over working conditions
- Museum visitors sit on and crush Van Gogh chair
Learn more
There’s a collection of art in Geneva valued at more than $10B. It’s thought there are over a million paintings, and the facility is the size of 30 football fields.
There are similar sites in Luxembourg, Monaco, Singapore, Zurich, Beijing, and … Delaware.
These sites are called freeports, and they’re a remarkable economic invention.
A free port facilitates “the temporary exemption of taxes for an unlimited quantity of time.” Put another way, it’s a giant warehouse used to stash art, antiquities, wine, gold, jewels, and other priceless artifacts and never pay tax on them.
They exist outside the formal jurisdiction of any country; the clients remain anonymous and the assets are kept a secret.
And though you may have never heard of free ports, they’re a big deal in the art world
Wine, Whiskey & Spirits
- Boosted by a new trade agreement with the UK, India leads the world in Scotch imports.
- Bill Koch’s massive wine collection sells for $28.8m — a new auction record at Christie’s
- Australian wine punches above its weight at Decanter Awards
- Vietnam increases tax on alcoholic drinks to 90%
Learn more
The whiskey market is cooling after years of hype.
Cask firms have collapsed, investors have been left in the dark, and many are now realizing that a certificate isn’t the same as ownership. Warehouses couldn’t verify claims. Transparency wasn’t just lacking—it was nonexistent.
But the market isn’t dead. It’s evolving.
Smarter platforms now offer real custody, insurance, and exit options. Producers are exploring asset-backed structures that actually align investor capital with real-world inventory. Less hype, more infrastructure.
Crypto
- Coinbase seeking SEC approval to offer blockchain-based equities
- Peter Thiel-backed crypto exchange Bullish files for IPO
- Top Chinese Bitcoin mining companies are setting up shop in US to avoid tariffs
- US seizes $774m in crypto tied to North Korean hackers
- Pakistan building Bitcoin ‘super team’ with Michael Saylor and CZ on crypto advisory council
- Vietnam passes law officially recognizing crypto assets
- Real-world asset tokenization is poised for growth beyond stablecoins
Collectibles, Culture and Luxury
- An autographed Michael Jordan rookie card auctioned at Pharrell Williams’ Joopiter marketplace
- A teacher’s collection of over 130 ancient Roman coins goes up for auction at over $1 million
- Human-sized Labubu doll sells for over $150,000
Learn more
Just last month, we published one of the first deep dives into the Labubu phenomenon — before most people had even heard the name.
In our May 2025 piece on Pop Mart, we highlighted how this quirky little forest creature helped fuel a collectibles boom across Asia and beyond.
Sports
- LA Lakers break sports sale record in $10 billion deal to Mark Walter
- Kalshi’s AI-generated ad for NBA Finals used Veo 3 and cost just $2,000 to make
- Saquon Barkley tops NFL’s season-end merchandise sales list, surpassing Mahomes
Music and Film
- Gibson and filmmakers launch global search for ‘Back to the Future’ guitar
- Suno and Udio hit with class action lawsuits from independent artists over unauthorized use of copyrighted works
- AI copyright debate heats up as Elton John leads fight over AI training
- Tariffs are quietly undermining America’s vinyl revival by raising costs for record pressing plants and distributors
Learn more
Timbaland just introduced his new AI-powered artist, TaTa—and the internet isn’t vibing.
TaTa is pitched as a “fully autonomous J-Pop star,” not a character or avatar.
But here’s where it gets interesting:
Apparently if Tata’s music is in fact 100% AI generated, then Timbaland won’t actually own the copyright.
Precious Metals and Gems
- Gold edges higher as Middle East conflict stokes demand
- Rio Tinto to pay $103m to settle fraud claims involving Mongolian copper-gold mine
- Niger to nationalize French share in uranium company Somair
Real Estate
- Office oversupply shrinks thanks to demolitions and office-to-residential conversions
- Zillow forecasts home values to fall 1.4% as inventory rises
- US multifamily Class A occupancy rises
- Opendoor will pay $39m to settle pricing algorithm lawsuit
- The ‘Pool premium’ for homes is losing its sparkle
Startups & VC
- OpenAI outlines plan for democratic AI governance
- AI wildfire detection startup Pano AI raises $44m to expand early detection
- Meta joins US startup to build 150-megawatt deep underground geothermal powerhouse
- Rare earths startup Cyclic Materials to build recycling plant in Canada
- Australia’s Element 25 secures $32m for battery manganese project
Websites and Domains
- Dollars.com Sells for $500,000
- Popular domain marketplace Dan.com is closing down on June 27
Read more
As AI transforms how we search, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is becoming the new SEO. But this time, we may have a rare edge: the ability to influence the answers directly.
That’s all we have!
See you next time, Stefan
Disclosures
- This issue was sponsored by Gelt
- Alt Assets Inc is considering creating an SPV in Auto 1. You must be an accredited investor to invest.
