Summary List PlacementAs interest rates in developed markets hit all-time lows in 2020, investors extended their risk-taking into a number of alternative and sometimes seemingly wacky trends from cryptocurrencies such as dogecoin to SPACs and NFTs. Since 2016, the investing platform Republic has aimed to democratize alternative investing by providing access to a number of non-traditional investment offerings from private startups to crypto, real estate, and video games. The firm recently launched a fund offering access to one of the wildest and perhaps most under-the-radar investment trends from this year and last year: virtual real estate.