Crypto derivatives markets have accumulated close to $80 million in open interest on futures contracts tied to Anthropic, the AI company, even as its initial public offering remains in preparation. The ANTHROPIC pre-stock contract has traded around $2,147, with more than $20 million in volume over 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data. Binance accounts for roughly 40% of this activity.
Anthropic confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June. The company has not yet disclosed offering prices, final valuation, or share count. Investors have discussed a potential valuation as high as $2 trillion, which would rank among the largest initial public offerings ever attempted. According to the Wall Street Journal, Anthropic plans to stage the IPO in November, later than the October timeframe previously expected.
Understanding Pre-IPO Perpetuals
The crypto contracts do not represent actual Anthropic shares. Instead, these are cash-settled derivatives that reference anticipated public company valuation or share price. No underlying shares are required to support the contracts, meaning traders take opposing positions on what the company could eventually be worth. This structure allows crypto markets to reflect corporate developments almost immediately.
Open interest across Anthropic and OpenAI pre-IPO perpetuals exceeded $160 million in September, up from roughly $1 million in April, according to Binance Research. The two companies accounted for approximately 95% of pre-IPO perpetual volume during the first 14 days of September.
Broader Shift in Private Company Trading
Crypto exchanges are increasingly building tradable instruments around Silicon Valley's most valuable private companies, effectively enabling price discovery before traditional equity investors can access the underlying shares. Rising futures open interest reflects growing participation and leverage rather than necessarily indicating bullish sentiment, as each futures position contains both long and short sides.
Call for Public Scrutiny
Circle Chief Executive Jeremy Allaire has urged Anthropic to complete its transition to public markets, arguing that transparency strengthens the case for such companies. Allaire cited Circle's experience after its June 2025 public listing at $31 per share, raising approximately $1.2 billion including overallotment options. He noted that going public imposes audited financial reporting, quarterly disclosures, independent board governance, and Sarbanes-Oxley controls that facilitate evaluation by banks, governments, and enterprise customers.
An IPO would require Anthropic to disclose substantially more about its finances, dependencies, and risks while exposing management decisions to investors, regulators, and recurring reporting requirements.
