Coinbase launches USDC pre-IPO perps for OpenAI, Anthropic
Coinbase launched USDC-settled pre-IPO perpetual futures that track OpenAI and Anthropic valuations, available to eligible non-U.S. customers on Coinbase International Exchange.
Coinbase has launched USDC-settled pre-IPO perpetual futures tied to OpenAI and Anthropic on Coinbase International Exchange. The contracts are available only to customers outside the United States who meet the exchange’s eligibility requirements.
The contracts reference each company’s total equity valuation and allow traders to take long or short positions using Coinbase’s perpetual futures infrastructure, including margin rules, funding payments and risk controls. Positions settle in the stablecoin USDC and do not confer equity ownership or voting rights.
Coinbase uses total valuation rather than an estimated pre-IPO share price because private companies often revise share counts and capital structures while preparing to list. The perpetual format has no fixed expiry; funding rates help keep contract prices aligned with the valuation benchmarks.
If a company discloses share counts and other listing details, Coinbase will convert valuation-based contracts into per-share pricing and link them to live equity feeds so traders can maintain positions through the transition.
The exchange applied the same conversion process to an SPCX-PERP contract tied to SpaceX. After a June 3 S-1/A filing, Coinbase rebased the contract to per-share pricing on June 11 and linked pricing to live equity data from the market data provider Pyth on June 12.
Brian Armstrong wrote on X: “Two of the biggest, most hyped private companies are due to go public soon (OpenAI and Anthropic). But because they’re private, regular people can’t get exposure. We launched pre-IPO perps for both these companies on Coinbase (non-US customers).”
The launch adds to other products Coinbase offers, including stock options and planned tokenized stocks. The contracts are intended for eligible non-U.S. customers and do not provide direct access to company shares.
Coinbase described the mechanism as preserving pricing continuity as private companies move into public markets while allowing traders to gain synthetic exposure to changes in total equity valuation.
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