Anthropic pre-IPO futures near $80M as $2T valuation priced

Crypto derivatives linked to Anthropic have reached roughly $79.27 million in open interest as traders attempt to price a potential initial public offering that some investors have discussed valuing as high as $2 trillion. The contracts provide a continuous market reference even though Anthropic remains privately held and has not set an offering price or share count.

Data from CoinGlass shows a pre-stock contract for Anthropic trading near $2,147, with more than $20 million in futures volume over a 24-hour period. The contract is cash-settled and does not represent actual Anthropic shares; CoinGlass reports no circulating supply or spot trading for the instrument. Binance has been the largest venue for these contracts, accounting for about 40% of activity.

Anthropic confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June but has not disclosed final details such as the number of shares or a price range. The company plans an IPO in November and is considering releasing another AI model before any public listing.

Pre-IPO perpetuals tied to private tech companies have increased across crypto venues. Binance Research reports open interest across Anthropic and OpenAI pre-IPO perpetuals surpassed $160 million this month, up from roughly $1 million in April and rising 179% from the prior month. These contracts are cash-settled and reference an anticipated public-company valuation or share price; they do not require underlying shares to be held.

Growing open interest reflects an increase in the notional value of outstanding positions and higher participation and leverage in the market. Open interest alone does not indicate whether traders are predominantly bullish, because every futures position has both a long and a short side. Crypto instruments tied to private AI firms have moved in response to product releases and public comments from company leaders in recent weeks.

Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire urged Anthropic to pursue a public listing, saying, “Take the leap, Anthropic.” He pointed to audited financial reporting, quarterly disclosures, independent board governance and Sarbanes-Oxley controls as features of public companies. Allaire cited Circle’s own IPO, which priced at $31 per share and raised roughly $1.2 billion in the total offering including shares sold by existing holders and the underwriters’ overallotment.

Allaire also noted that an IPO does not replace the need for clearer AI rules, comparing the interaction between public-market discipline and regulation to developments in the stablecoin sector.

When Anthropic publicly files its registration documents, traders and traditional investors will be able to compare the assumptions embedded in pre-IPO crypto contracts with audited financials, risk disclosures and the company’s share structure. Until that filing, crypto markets will continue to offer an informal, continuously traded reference price for a private company that has not yet listed its shares.