SHINY THING$ 0173 ✨

Investing isn’t optional anymore — it’s the foundation of future wealth.

That’s particularly true when you look at the numbers and the implications on future generations. With homeownership now averaging a starting age of 38 and the median-priced home requiring nearly half of household income, real estate isn’t the wealth builder it once was. Meanwhile, crypto has cooled significantly, Goldman Sachs projects 3% S&P 500 returns over the next decade, and Warren Buffett is selling stock and sitting on a record $334B in cash. It’s spooky out here… 

But sentiment is often worse than reality.

Typically, our Sunday newsletter are for diving into the world directly affecting our day-to-day, but this week, we’re zooming out a bit. With so much happening across markets, we’re bringing you key insights from beyond Rally — opportunities, signals, and shifts worth watching, in this week’s 173rd installment of Shiny Things$.

Alts over Everything

Two weeks ago, a headline came across the wire that likely missed the desks and inboxes of most investors — Apex, the brokerage clearing firm that holds hundreds of billions of dollars in assets with over 20 million accounts powering the transactions on platforms like Public and SoFi, is opening the alternative asset pipes for retail investors with their new platform “Apex Alts.”

So what does that mean and why does it matter?

You likely won’t able to invest in dinosaurs or Constitution’s on retail brokerage apps, but Apex seems like it will be enabling many of its clients to open access to the typical investments of high-net worth investors to everyday investors. Think along the lines of pre-IPO tech companies, big private real estate investments, and the ability put money directly into private equity fund portfolios — the deals that have historically been offered to a class of investor that does not typically trade on Robinhood. 

Alts have been part of a bigger conversation as of late in all corners of consumer spending and investing. Increasingly, the new generation of potential investment bank customers are less interested in index funds, and more interested in putting in a 5-leg same-game NBA parlay that can turn $100 into $20K. The U.S. sports betting industry posted a record $13.71B in 2024 revenue, options trading is driving record active user numbers across retail brokerage apps, and 24/7 crypto markets are making everyone question the usefulness of the current 9:30AM-to-4PM equities market. 

The new generation of investors gravitate toward the highest variance outcome: all or nothing. But when they see real, interesting opportunities for the long-term, they are willing to make bigger bets and commit real capital. With an opportunity for retail to invest in the often more complex products that private equity has always held for their clients, the doors continue to open for alternatives and for the investors who want more than just index funds and ETFs. 

Read More via Yahoo Finance 👇

Memecoins Take a Breather

It hard to argue that highly relevant brands and names can create upward price action. 

In the first crypto-token cycle back in 2022, that relevance was tied to influencers who pumped everything they could get paid for. In this most recent cycle, the relevance was tied to dropping coins on the backs of collective cultural moments that turned into literal social currency. Quick drops that captured the news — tokens like Zyncoin, Luigi, and Moo Deng exploded in value instantly, and often crashed even quicker. 

All of it kinda feels like a joke where the only punchline is losing everything. 

But crude jokes and the memes that follow have always gone hand-in-hand with crypto culture, so maybe it makes sense that the utility-less “Fartcoin” ballooned to $2B in value, surpassing the market cap of 40% of all companies listed on the US stock market (before falling 80% over the last month).

Donald and Melania’s memecoin launches may have signaled the top, but there’s always a new cycle waiting in the wing, and similar to collectibles, relevance often matters above all when it comes to creating the initial market… but is it truly something we should consider a part of pop culture?

Chris St. John broke down the start to finish on memecoin culture and the tokenomics that make the market move in an optimistically thorough take earlier this month. 

Read more via Medium 👇

The State of the Sneaker Economy

Not long ago, sneakers were seen as the ultimate symbol of “culture” among collectors. But in recent years, that sentiment has faded. The downfall of the resale market can largely be traced to the same factor that has led to the decline of many tangible goods markets: over-accessibility.

The primary market got flooded by the likes of Nike re-releasing every popular sneaker of the last 4 decades over and over, the secondary market got more competitive with bots buying up releases then undercutting every other seller and killing margins, and consumers got overwhelmed and tired of the never ending hype cycle. It happens at some point in basically every market where brands control supply behind a closed door (the classic, but often incorrect argument for “blockchain can fix this”). 

However, even in a down market still trying to regain it’s footing amongst “alternative assets,” an oddly bullish sign for sneakers continues to show itself: sneakers continue to be a target for criminal activity. Fakes, jewel-heist style break ins, and this past week we saw something even crazier — an old fashioned train robbery where nearly $2M of a Nike sneaker delivery were stolen directly off of a freight car. 

Even more interesting, the thieves appeared to target a specific set of cars that contained the highest value “collectible” sneakers, made in the lowest quantities — specifically the recent release of a Nigel Sylvester Jordan variant which are currently selling on the secondary market for $2000+ (10x their March 4th release retail price). 

This week on the Sneakers Podcast, the team from Complex went front to back on the biggest question in the space - sneaker culture seems bigger than ever, but Is Sneaker Reselling Dead?

Listen/Watch via Complex 👇

Until Next Week…