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:
- Crypto: Wyoming becomes first US state to issue its own stable token
- Sports: The intersection of prediction markets and sports betting is getting wild.
- Collectibles, Culture and Luxury: How two friends brought cricket trading cards to life
- Music & Film: Cassette tapes are making a comeback
- Private Equity & Private Credit: Soho House to go private in $2.7 billion deal
- Real Estate: Yieldstreet’s real estate losses shake confidence
- Startups & VC: Australia’s Canva begins share sale at $42 billion valuation
- 🇦🇷 International Investing: Mercado Pago applies to build Argentina’s largest digital bank
- Precious Metals and Gems: U.S. military plans to stockpile cobalt for the first time in decades
- Artwork: Bob Ross painting fetches $1.6M at Bonhams auction
- Farmland: USDA moves to restrict wind and solar farms on agricultural land
- Wine, Whiskey & Spirits: Two Indian brands win big at the World Whisky Awards
Let’s go
Table of Contents
International Investing
Around the world…
- 🇦🇺 Goldman Sachs targets Australia’s richest families in private banking expansion
- 🇹🇭 Thailand to roll out crypto payments for tourists in 2025
- 🇦🇷 Mercado Pago applies to build Argentina’s largest digital bank
- 🇵🇱 Poland pushes a 3% tax on tech giants operating in the country
Crypto
- Wyoming becomes first US state to issue its own stable token
- UK unveils new stablecoin strategy aimed at regulating digital assets
- Fed considers stricter rules on banks handling crypto as lobbying ramps up
- Tether hires former White House crypto advisor Bo Hines
- Experts are once again divided as NFTs return from the dead
- Kanye West launches a Solana-based meme coin that briefly soars before crashing
Alts connection to Wyoming token
Huge news for everyone who cares about finance, blockchain or data.
“The Wyoming Stable Token Commission proudly announces the mainnet launch of the Frontier Stable Token (FRNT). This historic move marks Wyoming as the first public entity in the United States to issue a blockchain-based stable token. FRNT is designed to provide secure, transparent, and efficient digital transactions for individuals, businesses, and institutions – worldwide. This groundbreaking initiative cements Wyoming at the forefront of digital finance and blockchain innovation.”
Congrats to Alts community member John Belitsky who was heavily involved in making this happen.
Sports
- Robinhood sues regulators after reactivating sports betting contracts
- DraftKings reapplies to the National Futures Association
- FanDuel enters prediction markets with non-sports contracts
- Kalshi adds touchdown props amid legal uncertainty
- Private equity pushes into college sports, but Power 4 commissioners remain skeptical and many schools are still hesitant to allow PE into athletic departments
- WNBA breaks regular season attendance record with a month left to play
Prediction markets + Sports betting collide
The intersection of prediction markets and sports betting is getting wild.
Over the past week there have been some major land grabs in both worlds. It’s all happening at once, and the legal fog is getting thick.
TL;DR – Prediction markets want in on sports betting, and sports betting wants in on prediction markets. Everyone wants to be everything.
Here’s a breakdown of what’s going on.
Collectibles, Culture and Luxury
- How two friends brought cricket trading cards to life
- First Baseball Hall of Fame program, signed by Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, sells for record $315k
- Ferrari Daytona SP3 fetches $3.9 million at charity auction
- The 2025 Monterey auctions saw the second-highest total ever, driven by modern supercars
- Pop Mart stock surges on Mini Labubu earnings momentum
Learn more
Despite having billions of fans, cricket had no real card market. Two Alts community members decided to change that.
Back in 2023, we published a piece called Investing in Cricket. It covered everything from the rise of the IPL to emerging opportunities in the sport’s global expansion.
Immediately after publishing, Alts community member Omar Khokhar wondered: What if cricket had a proper trading card market?
Two years later, Omar’s idea has become a business; a very real, high-quality business called Sportsnection.
This is the story of how Omar teamed up with a friend to build a cricket trading card company from scratch.
No licensing, no templates, no playbook. Just a shared belief that if soccer cards could take off, cricket could too.
Music & Film
- Hip-hop and R&B fans now spend the most daily time with music
- Cassette tapes make a 2025 comeback as nostalgia-driven collectors return
- AI tools are reshaping music creation by letting users sell artists by the prompt
- Downton Abbey costumes and props go to auction in support of charity
Last chance to invest in K-Pop Music Royalties
I’m happy to report that our K-Pop due diligence is complete.
There has been lots of demand for this one. While the artist & track details remain confidential, you can express interest to get access to the full data room.
This is your last chance to express interest in this deal.
Private Equity & Private Credit
- New research shows buying PE firm stocks has outperformed the returns of the funds themselves
- Soho House to go private in $2.7 billion deal through Apollo, Ashton Kutcher joins board
- UBS warns the private credit–fueled AI boom may be overheating
- Trump-backed proposal could let Americans invest in private equity via 401(k)s. Urban Institute analyzes how PE in retirement accounts could impact savers
- Neuberger Berman nears $5B close on new secondaries fund amid record demand
Real Estate
- Yieldstreet’s real estate losses shake confidence
- Surge in data center demand pushes North American vacancy rates to record lows
- Foreign buyers fuel U.S. housing market as locals retreat
- New home construction slows as starts fall more than expected
- Builder confidence plateaus near cycle lows
- U.S. housing market remains frozen as interest rates stay elevated
- Builders push sales incentives to 5-year highs to move new inventory
- Multifamily capital markets remain challenged with cap rates holding firm
Startups & VC
- Australia’s Canva begins share sale at $42 billion valuation
- AI data center startup Crusoe in talks for $10 billion valuation
- Eight Sleep raises $100M to expand AI sleep platform and enter medical market
- Turkey’s Robinhood-style platform nears unicorn status as local investing booms
- Interactive Brokers launches prediction markets in Canada
- Starlink tries to block Louisiana fiber rollout over interference concerns
Precious Metals and Gems
- U.S. military to begin stockpiling cobalt for the first time in decades
Farmland
- USDA moves to restrict wind and solar farms on agricultural land
- Grain demand lifts prices as global buyers chase U.S. supply
Artwork
- Bonhams sets record for a Bob Ross painting at $1.6 million
- New report explores rise of emerging art markets as collectors diversify globally
Wine, Whiskey & Spirits
- Two Indian brands win big at the World Whisky Awards
That’s all for this week.
See you next time, Stefan
Disclosures
- This issue was sponsored by Mode Mobile
- This issue contains no affiliate links
