Via bloomberg.com
Crypto derivatives markets are pricing the AI company nearly double its $965B Series H valuation, signaling massive speculative appetite ahead of a potential IPO
Perpetual futures contracts tied to Anthropic are trading at levels that imply a valuation of roughly $1.8 trillion for the AI company. That’s an 88% premium over the $965 billion post-money valuation Anthropic secured in its Series H funding round in May 2026.
The contracts, available on major crypto derivatives platforms including Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, don’t involve any actual equity changing hands. They’re synthetic instruments, settling against oracle-fed indices rather than shares.
From $380B to $1.8T in months #
In February 2026, the company’s Series G round pegged its value at $380 billion. Just a few months later, the Series H raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation, more than doubling the previous figure.
Now the derivatives market is suggesting the company might be worth nearly twice even that number. Some markets are floating valuations as high as $2 trillion.
How pre-IPO perps actually work #
Pre-IPO perpetual contracts allow traders to take leveraged, directional positions on a company’s expected valuation without ever touching private shares. The contracts reference an index that tracks estimated valuations, typically fed by a combination of secondary market data and oracle providers. Traders can go long if they think the company will be worth more at IPO, or short if they believe the hype is overcooked.
No accredited investor status required. No minimum check sizes. No lock-up periods. These are purely speculative positions with no claim on actual equity, no voting rights, and no guarantee that the settlement index will accurately reflect what happens at IPO.
Perpetual futures have been the dominant trading instrument in crypto for years, dwarfing spot volumes on most major exchanges.
What this says about the IPO timeline #
Speculation has been building that Anthropic could pursue a public listing as early as October 2026. The derivatives market pricing Anthropic at $1.8 trillion suggests traders are positioning for the IPO to come in significantly above the last private round.
The $65 billion raised in the Series H was one of the largest private funding rounds in history. The perp markets have added an additional $835 billion in implied value on top of that within weeks.
For non-US traders in particular, pre-IPO perps offer exposure to companies that are otherwise completely inaccessible before they go public. Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our