This Week in Alternative Investments - July 14th, 2023

Author

Adam Katz
July 14, 2023

A 1776 broadside copy of the Declaration of Independence sold for $2.895 million

Headlines

Bite sized market updates

A 1776 broadside copy of the Declaration of Independence sold for $2.895 million at Heritage Auctions. The document is one of only six remaining copies that were printed in Massachusetts and one of only two owned privately.

A U.S. judge ruled that the cryptocurrency XRP (Ripple) is not a security. The price of the token nearly doubled in the wake of the landmark ruling.

Insolvent crypto lender Celsius’s Alex Mashinsky was arrested. The former CEO was charged with seven counts, including securities fraud, commodities fraud and wire fraud.

Home prices hit a record high in May. The Black Knight Home Price Index rose 0.7% compared with April as the supply of houses on the market continues to decline.

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Market Updates

A copy of the Declaration of Independence from 1776 sold for $2.895 million. It is the first broadside edition that was printed in Massachusetts, and is one of six copies that are known to exist, with only one other copy in private hands. The sale happened at Heritage Auctions, which also saw a 1861 proclamation from Abraham Lincoln authorizing a blockade of Confederate ports sell for $471,000. There is always a market for unique memorabilia, particularly when it carries a high level of historical value.

Ripple Labs won a potentially massive ruling for the crypto industry in the U.S. A federal judge ruled that they did not violate federal securities law by selling their cryptocurrency XRP on public exchanges. This could have monumental effects for other crypto companies that have been sued by the SEC. However, the judge did rule that Ripple did violate federal securities law when it sold XRP directly to consumers. The price of the token nearly doubled after the ruling and as of this writing, is still up over 70% in the past day.

Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky was arrested. In addition the the seven counts of criminal charges, he was also sued by the SEC, CFTC and FTC due to his “years long scheme to mislead customers”. Separately, the company agreed to pay a $4.7 billion fine, though the insolvent former lender is unlikely to ever pay it after returning its current assets to its creditors.

The Black Knight Home Price Index hit a record high. Despite rising mortgage rates, home prices have been on the rebound, showing a 0.7% month over month gain from April to May. New listings are down 25% since last year and with many homeowners locked into low mortgage rates, supply could be tight for the foreseeable future.