Happy Memorial Day! The Bitcoin conference kicks off this week, new home sales are up, a Ferrari sold for $18 million, and emerging VC firms are struggling. Let’s dive in!
📺 Watch: Our latest pre-IPO briefing covering everything investors should know about the multi-billion dollar defense tech startup Anduril.
This issue is brought to you by Pacaso, revolutionizing the $1.3 trillion vacation home market.
📈 WEEKLY MARKETS
*as of 5/25; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD
🪙 BITCOIN CONFERENCE
The Bitcoin 2025 conference, the world’s largest, kicks off tomorrow in Las Vegas, with more than 30,000 attendees expected, along with hundreds of exhibitors and speakers, and a highly anticipated speech from Vice President Vance. Other notables include Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Senator Cynthia Lummis, White House adviser David Sacks, the recently-pardoned Ross Ulbricht, and Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev.
➨ TAKEAWAY: The conference is coming after a week where Bitcoin set a new all-time high and crypto received a lot of mainstream attention due in part to President Trump’s memecoin dinner. The conference’s heavy Republican presence and VP Vance’s speech are just more proof of the pro-crypto priorities of the current administration. For investors, this could be a volatile week, depending on announcements made during the conference, and the tendency for traders to “sell the news” especially if nothing too noteworthy occurs.
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📺 EVENT RECORDING
“I would not buy this thinking that there's a very obvious IPO in the near term. We're probably a couple to a few years out at least. And that's probably a minimum.” - Slava Rubin
In this conversation, Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Sacra founder Jan-Erik Asplund discuss the rise of Anduril, the defense techn startup that has disrupted traditional defense contracting with innovative products and a unique business model. The discussion also covers Anduril's revenue growth, the opportunities and risks it faces in the global market, and its IPO prospects.
📰 NOTABLE NEWS
🏡 New home sales rise: The number of new home sales in April rose by 10.9% monthly and 3.3% year-over-year, with around two-thirds of the sales coming in the South. While existing home sales continue to drop, new homes are attracting buyers as the more affordable option - the median sales price of new homes is down 2% year-over-year.
🚘 Schumacher’s Ferrari: A race-used 2001 Ferrari F2001 from legendary driver Michael Schumacher’s fourth F1 title-winning year sold for $18.2 million after previously selling in 2017 for $7.5 million.
🚀 Emerging VC struggles: Emerging fund managers, defined as those who have raised three or fewer funds, have raised only $4.7 billion this year, a precipitous decline compared to $17 billion in 2024 and $64 billion in 2021.
🏢 CRE transaction volume grows: Q1 2025 saw an 11.3% year-over-year increase in commercial real estate deal volume, with multifamily up a whopping 35.5%, though office buildings saw a 18% decline. Overall, the market saw the first annual price increase since 2022.
🎨 Ultra-contemporary blues: A major trend in the wake of the New York spring auctions was the continued decline of the ultra-contemporary sector - the number of lots offered by artists under 45 was around half of what it was four years ago.
💵 Too much dry powder: Private credit’s emergence over the past few years has given firms a lot of capital to work with, but there is concern that there aren’t enough good deals to deploy to, leading firms to write riskier loans.
Explore litigation funding: Fixed returns, insurance-backed, and independent of market swings. Get details.**
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📆 LOOKING FORWARD
Today: Markets closed for Memorial Day.
Tuesday: Consumer confidence report; S&P Case-Shiller home price index and FHFA house price index released.
Thursday: Pending home sales data released; Sotheby’s “Finest Whisky” auction, featuring two separate six-figure lots.
Friday: Consumer sentiment report; Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) and Core PCE indices, the Fed’s preferred inflation metrics, will be released.
