Anthropic has set aside a plan for spending $518 billion on AI infrastructure, and pre-IPO perps barely notice.
Anthropic, the company behind the Claude family of AI models, has published a prospectus ahead of its planned public listing, and the numbers are huge. The company says it intends to spend $518 billion on cloud computing and infrastructure in the coming years. It also reported a net loss of $42 billion in 2025, including a $34 billion non-cash accounting charge, while revenue rose twelvefold to nearly $4.6 billion.
The prospectus’s contents and what the markets have made of them are set out below.
The Spending Plan
The prospectus for Anthropic positions its spending as a wager that AI will reshape the global economy more profoundly than industrialization, electricity and the internet did. As a U.S.-based artificial intelligence firm, the company develops the Claude family of AI models. Its public listing is expected to follow the November U.S. midterm elections and could value the company at more than $2 trillion, according to Reuters. That figure exceeds the $965 billion valuation from its May funding round by more than double.
Despite heavy losses, Anthropic has published a spending plan. The company reported a net loss of $42 billion in 2025. Some of that figure, about $34 billion, stemmed from an accounting charge tied to financing that could later turn into shares rather than cash spent running the business. When you strip out write-downs linked to past fundraising, the company’s operating loss exceeded $8 billion.
Last year revenue expanded to nearly $4.6 billion, rising 12-fold. A mere quarter of it came from only two customers, and the company has cautioned that many of its biggest clients are not bound by long-term contracts. Anthropic reported $20.28 billion in cash and short-term investments at the close of 2025.
Crypto Traders Stay Calm
Traders showed little response to the announcement. Anthropic pre-IPO perpetual futures, allowing speculation on the firm’s value ahead of its listing, were trading at $1,998 on Tuesday across major exchanges, down roughly 2% over a span of 24 hours, per CoinMarketCap. The current price sits about 10% beneath its Sept. 9 high point of $2,211.
Each contract’s price tracks Anthropic’s expected valuation in trillions. A price of $1,998, therefore, means traders value the company at about $2 trillion, based on Binance’s pricing. That aligns with Reuters’ figure.
Coin Metrics reports that twelve exchanges list Anthropic pre-IPO perpetuals. Open interest, which is the dollar value of outstanding contracts, was over $100 million at the time of writing. Binance handles more than 30% of the trading activity.
Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange, and the market for Anthropic managed by Entropy currently has an open interest of $36 million.
These contracts give no ownership in Anthropic. They are synthetic instruments that resolve in cash, following the company’s implied worth rather than its list of shareholders.
Open interest for these tokens rarely reaches into billions of dollars, unlike perps linked to:
- Bitcoin
- Ether
- Other major cryptocurrencies
which boast much larger, more liquid markets.
What the Numbers Mean
The gap between what Anthropic intends to spend and how the market responds stands out plainly. The company’s investment plans call for half a trillion dollars, even as it loses forty billion dollars within a single year.
The pairing is an odd one. The numbers for spending are substantial, and the loss is real, although the $42 billion figure carries with it a large non-cash charge related to financing.
Why Traders Are Calm
There are a few reasons traders might stay calm despite the scale of the plans. First, the $518 billion figure is spread over years, not a single payment. Second, the $42 billion loss includes a large non-cash charge tied to financing, meaning the headline number reflects accounting treatment rather than cash spent.
The firm’s balance sheet includes $20.28 billion in cash and short-term investments. The revenue growth, which has reached twelvefold, is solid, though it rests almost entirely on two customers.
The response from traders has been mild so far, with contracts falling by roughly 2% over the course of 24 hours while staying below the Sept. 9 record.
The Limits of the Market
These are synthetic derivatives rather than real equity. They close out in cash and follow the implied valuation instead of the share register. That makes them more speculative than a standard stock trade, with a market that is smaller and less liquid than the crypto derivatives markets for well-established assets such as bitcoin and ether.
Twelve exchanges combined hold an open interest of just $100 million, a tiny fraction of the major crypto derivatives markets where billions of dollars of open interest are routine. Even the Entropy market on Hyperliquid, which has $36 million of open interest, falls short by comparison.
What to Watch Next
Before the November U.S. midterm elections, the next significant event on the horizon is the public listing of Anthropic. That offering is expected to move forward after the voting, and it could carry a valuation that exceeds $2 trillion.
Investors need to decide if the spending pays off. Anthropic is wagering that AI alters the global economy more deeply than industrialization, electricity and the internet ever did. That sets an extremely demanding standard, and the company still has a long stretch ahead before it can demonstrate its case.
The market’s reaction has been measured. Traders have barely blinked.
The approach at Anthropic is straightforward: build the infrastructure first, then watch the revenue grow, and allow the valuation to rise on its own. The company holds enough cash to finance its early work, sees growth that supports increased spending, and operates within a market that confirms its value. It remains unclear whether this will lead to a successful public offering.
So far, the people who placed their wagers on Anthropic prior to the stock’s debut have shown no signs of panic.
Source material: “Anthropic plans to spend $518 billion on AI infrastructure. Pre-IPO perps barely blink.,” CoinDesk.
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