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- April 26th - This Week in Alternative Investments
April 26th - This Week in Alternative Investments
This issue is brought to you by 3i Members, a global deal network for accomplished private investors
Headlines
The TikTok “ban” passed
Crypto bad actors facing jail time
A “lost” Klimt sold for $32 million
Moody’s downgrades private credit
Rubrik’s IPO starts hot
Plus: Another big AI raise, Bitcoin “halves,” John Lennon’s lost guitar, and more.
Performance
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Market Updates
The U.S. enacted legislation that could lead to a TikTok ban. The law gives the app’s Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance one year to sell its share of the app to a non-Chinese buyer, or face consequences that include removal from app stores and web hosting services. Proponents of the law view the app as a national security risk, suggesting that its data accessible to the Chinese government, while opponents voice First Amendment concerns. Even if there are interested, qualified buyers, the Chinese government would need to approve the sale, and it is unlikely to do so, particularly if the purchase includes the coveted TikTok algorithm. Expect there to be a long court battle that will likely keep the status quo going for some time, but the law does set a precedent that any investors in foreign companies should be aware of.
More crypto punishments are coming, most notably Binance Founder CZ Zhao is facing looking at three years. The former CEO of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange will be sentenced next week after pleading guilty to money laundering charges. He has already paid a $50 million fine, while the company paid a $4.32 billion penalty. Elsewhere, crypto trader Avraham Eisenberg was found guilty of fraud and market manipulation in conjunction with his $110 million exploit of Mango Markets in 2022. He faces up to 20 years in prison and will be sentenced in July. As more of these cases reach resolutions, it could act as deterrence to future bad actors and continue to cement crypto’s legitimacy in the mainstream.
(IM Kinsky)
A “lost” Gustav Klimt painting sold for $32 million at auction. The partially unfinished “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” was one of the Austrian artist’s final works and was still in his studio when he died in 1918. The painting disappeared from the record when the Liesers, the Jewish family who originally commissioned it, fled from Nazi rule, and lost most of their possessions. After the painting resurfaced this year, an agreement was made between the current owners and the heirs of the original owners to go forward with the sale. The final sale price of $37 million with fees represented the low end of the estimated value, but the Austrian auction house was “very happy with the result.”
Moody’s lowered its outlook for three leading private credit funds. The ratings company modified its classification from “stable” to “negative” for funds from Blackrock, KKR and Oaktree Capital Management with a combined value of more than $20 billion. That means they each face the chance of a ratings downgrade in the medium term, which would downgrade the funds from investment grade to junk status. The reason for the change is the rise in loans in “non-accrual” status, meaning those that are behind on payments. With the rise in interest rates, private credit lenders see higher potential returns, but as Moody’s is warning, a higher risk of those loans defaulting.
Smart Humans Podcast
In this episode, Slava Rubin talks with 3i Members' Mark Gerson about the innovative investing network, the importance of community, and accessing unique alternative investments.
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More stories worth checking out
(Reuters)
Rubrik’s IPO: The data security company priced its IPO at $32/share, raising $752 million at a $5.6 billion valuation, and then saw its share price jump 16% on the first day of trading - a good initial sign for those hoping for more tech IPOs.
Perplexity keeps on raising: The AI search engine startup is capitalizing on VC demand for AI and is on the cusp of its third funding round of 2024, this one for $250 million at a $2.5-$3 billion valuation, after a $74 million round with a $540 million valuation in January and a $63 million round with a $1 billion valuation in March.
Bitcoin halving completed: The much-anticipated event where mining rewards are cut in half happened last weekend, with prices mostly unchanged, though the coveted ‘epic sat’ - the first satoshi mined from the halving with a face value of $0.00065 - sold for $2.1 million as a collectors’ item.
A Beatle’s lost guitar: The instrument John Lennon played on the 1965 album “Help!” was recently re-discovered in an attic and will be auctioned in May with an estimated value of $600,000-$800,000.
Luxury real estate outperforms: Prices for luxury homes - those in the top 5% of market value - rose by 8.7% year-over-year in Q1, compared to a 4.6% gain for all other homes, and the number of sales rose by 2.1% while sales of all other homes fell by 4.2%.
PSA adding photo-matching: The card-grading and authentication leader is branching out to a new space, as demand grows for memorabilia that can be specifically tied to a game or important moment.
NAR settlement moves forward: A federal judge granted preliminary approval to the $418 million antitrust settlement that will overhaul the real estate commission model.
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