Crypto traders have assigned the private artificial intelligence company Anthropic an implied valuation of approximately $2.12 trillion through synthetic perpetual contracts listed on major exchanges, according to data from September 9. This valuation exceeds Anthropic's last negotiated private-market value by more than double.
Anthropic raised $65 billion in a Series H funding round on May 28, which valued the company at $965 billion. The latest implied valuation through crypto markets represents a significant increase from that figure.
How the Contracts Work
Binance listed the ANTHROPIC/USDT perpetual contract on June 2 as a USDT-margined derivative with up to 20 times leverage. The contract applies an assumed share count of 1 billion shares to derive the implied company valuation. Similar contracts trade on Bitget, Kraken, BingX, and other exchanges at comparable price levels.
These perpetual contracts do not represent actual company stock or place traders on Anthropic's cap table. They are derivatives that allow traders to speculate on future company valuations without owning shares. The contracts settle in tether, not in actual equity.
OKX uses a different assumption of 10 billion shares, producing a lower per-unit price but a similar implied company valuation. Binance stated that its share estimate is informational only and not endorsed by the exchange.
Alternative Investment Structures
Prestocks issues an ANTHROPIC token on Solana that claims to provide economic exposure through a special-purpose vehicle. On September 9, the token traded with an implied Anthropic valuation near $1.59 trillion and a market cap of approximately $7.1 million to $7.2 million.
Anthropic has warned against such structures. In May, the company stated that it does not permit SPVs to acquire Anthropic stock, that transfers into SPVs are void, and that third-party sales of exposure through tokenized securities or similar mechanisms may represent investments with no value. Following this warning, Prestocks tokens declined approximately 34 to 45 percent.
The Reality Check Ahead
The perpetual contracts and tokens represent leveraged market speculation rather than authorized pricing. Binance indicated it will rescale the ANTHROPIC/USDT contract if Anthropic's amended S-1 filing shows a share count differing from the current estimate by 3 percent or more.
Anthropic's private valuation climbed from $380 billion in February to $965 billion in May. The company's annualized revenue run-rate was disclosed near $47 billion at the Series H close and later reported around $65 billion by late July.
Bankers and investors have discussed a possible listing in the $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion range. However, the actual IPO pricing will ultimately determine whether the $2.12 trillion implied valuation reflects market reality or speculative excess.
Combined open interest across Anthropic perpetual markets remains modest, in the tens of millions of dollars, despite the large implied valuations. OpenAI, another private AI company, has similarly seen pre-IPO contracts trade, with implied valuations around $1.58 trillion on Binance as of September 9.
