Anthropic Perps Draw Leveraged Bets Ahead of IPO

Two Anthropic-linked perpetual contracts are trading on Hyperliquid ahead of the company’s expected IPO: Entropy’s ANTH, which tracks estimated company valuation, and trade.xyz’s ANT, which tracks a share reference price. ANT fell about 20% in its first hour, from roughly $138 to $110, while trading with up to 10x leverage. Hyperliquid data showed $8.7 million in volume and $2.2 million in open interest by about 11:50 a.m. ET.

Why it matters

Neither contract is backed by Anthropic shares, and holders have no claim on the company. Until a public listing establishes a market price, these contracts reflect trader expectations, with the operator setting the initial price and controlling key rules. Anthropic’s help page warns that offers claiming to sell its shares through forward contracts or tokenized securities are likely worthless; it has not said whether that warning covers perpetual swaps.

The products show how crypto derivatives can create markets around assets before they trade publicly. But these are not tokenized shares: positions are backed by traders’ collateral, and winners are paid by losing positions. Trade.xyz sets price sources and leverage limits and can halt trading.

Market impact

Trade.xyz says ANT is expected to convert into a standard perpetual tracking the stock after listing, with Nov. 20 as its estimate, not a date confirmed by Anthropic. If the listing is delayed, the contract has a 60-day grace period through Jan. 19, 2027. If no listing occurs within that window, it is set to settle in cash under trade.xyz’s stated rules.

Liquidity and leverage are key risks. A 10% move against a position at 10x leverage can wipe out its collateral, while thin liquidity can amplify price swings. A similar, separate SpaceX contract on Hyperliquid fell about 45% in 30 minutes in May and liquidated 405 users. U.S. traders are restricted from Hyperliquid, and trade.xyz says it uses geoblocking and wallet screening.