Anthropic Pre-IPO Perpetuals Reach $643 Million Through Sept. 21
September month-to-date volume has already exceeded August’s full-month total across 12 venues, while any shift to a stock-based benchmark depends on a completed IPO and stable index data.
Anthropic-linked pre-IPO perpetuals recorded $643 million in trading volume through Sept. 21, surpassing August’s full-month total as traders await clarity on whether the artificial-intelligence company will eventually list publicly.
The September month-to-date volume covered 12 venues, compared with $590 million for all of August. Binance accounted for 32% of September volume and 39% of industry open interest, which stood at $80 million on the Sept. 21 snapshot.
Binance’s open interest increased 88% over 30 days, rising from $16.6 million to $31.2 million. The exchange launched its ANTHROPICUSDT USDⓈ-margined pre-IPO perpetual on June 2, 2026, at 12:30 a.m. ET (04:30 UTC). The contract references Anthropic PBC and assumed an estimated one billion shares.
These products are cash-settled derivatives linked to an estimated pre-IPO share price. They are not Anthropic shares and do not provide ownership or an IPO allocation. The company’s private-market valuation has also been discussed in earlier coverage of its potential IPO.
Before a public listing, the contract’s mark price is calculated from recent trading on Binance using a trailing average. Per-second price changes are capped at plus or minus 1%.
If Anthropic completes an initial public offering, the contract may gradually transition to a standard TradFi perpetual after data vendors provide a stable external index. The mark price may converge toward that index over as long as three hours, depending on volatility and index stability.
A difference between the derivative’s implied value and the eventual stock price could affect mark prices, collateral requirements and liquidation levels during the transition.
A limited precedent comes from SpaceX. Its pre-IPO perpetuals recorded nearly $2 billion in volume before the June 12 listing, while post-listing perpetual volume averaged about $1.6 billion a day. The higher activity after listing does not establish that the same pre-IPO traders remained active.
Anthropic confidentially submitted a draft Form S-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1, 2026. The filing preserves the option of going public after SEC review, but the company has not announced an IPO date, exchange, offering size or final share count. Any offering also depends on market conditions and other factors.
If the IPO does not proceed, the pre-IPO perpetual would be removed after advance notice, with the settlement method disclosed in a later announcement.
