Anthropic is in early discussions on a funding round of up to $50 billion that could push its valuation close to $1 trillion, according to a Financial Times report cited by Cointelegraph on May 8, 2026. If the round closes at the high end of that range, it would put Anthropic ahead of OpenAI on paper and reset the private-market benchmark for the entire AI sector.
The story matters for crypto traders because OKX began offering pre-IPO perpetual futures on Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX earlier this month. That product gives non-US traders the first liquid way to express a view on private AI valuations, and a $1 trillion headline number is exactly the kind of catalyst those markets were built to price.
A Round Built On Compute, Not Revenue
The size of the raise is the headline, but the use of proceeds is the story. Frontier AI labs are competing for GPU capacity, data center leases, and long-term power contracts. A $50 billion round at this stage is less about runway and more about locking in physical compute for the next training cycles.
That framing also explains why the valuation is climbing so quickly. Anthropic's last reported round closed at a meaningfully lower number, and the gap between that print and the $1 trillion figure cited in the FT report is being driven by enterprise demand for Claude rather than a sudden change in the cost of capital. Broader markets remain cautious: BTC trades at $79,603, down 1.7% over 24 hours as of May 8, with the Fear & Greed index at 47 (Neutral).
The Crypto Angle Is The Perpetual Market
OKX listed Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX perps with daily settlement against an internal index intended to track private valuations. With no public stock to anchor the contract, the index leans on funding rounds, secondary market prints, and tender offers as inputs. A confirmed $1 trillion mark would force an immediate repricing.
A few practical points for traders watching the contract:
- Funding rounds are the highest-quality input the index can use, but they are lagging by definition. The price the perp is discovering today is the price of the next round, not this one.
- Liquidity on a single-name pre-IPO perp is thin. A $50 billion headline can move the contract well before the index updates, and that gap is where most of the volatility lives.
- The product is restricted to non-US traders. US-based readers cannot access the OKX listing and should treat the contract as a reference price, not a tradable instrument.
A Reset For The AI Private Market
Surpassing OpenAI on valuation, even on paper, is a significant marker. OpenAI was the reference point for every AI deal struck in the last two years. If Anthropic prints at or near $1 trillion, secondary platforms that quote private AI shares will need to mark their books accordingly, and that ripples into employee tender offers, fund NAVs, and the prediction market quotes the FT report is already moving.
Kalshi's $22 billion round earlier this month showed how quickly capital can rotate into specific private names when a narrative clicks. The Anthropic round, if confirmed at this size, will be a far larger version of the same dynamic.
There are reasons for caution. The FT framed the round as early-stage talks, not a signed term sheet, and the $50 billion ceiling is the optimistic end of the range. Rounds of this size routinely shrink between leak and close, and a final print closer to $25 to $35 billion would still be enormous but would not clear the OpenAI bar. Anthropic and the named investors had not commented publicly at the time of writing.
Overview
Anthropic is reportedly weighing a funding round of up to $50 billion at a valuation approaching $1 trillion, per the FT. The figure would put it ahead of OpenAI on paper. For crypto, the immediate consequence is on OKX's pre-IPO perpetual futures, where Anthropic is one of three listed names and the contract has been waiting for a real catalyst to test its index. Until the round closes, the perp is the live price.
