Whale Drops $30.1M Short on Anthropic Pre-IPO Perps at 6x Leverage

Someone is betting big against Anthropic before it ever hits the public market. A whale opened roughly $30.1 million in short positions on Anthropic pre-IPO perpetuals on Hyperliquid, according to Cointelegraph. The trade runs across two separate markets and carries 6x leverage.

That's a meaty wager for a product that tracks a company still privately held. Pre-IPO perps let traders take directional bets on a firm's implied valuation without waiting for a listing — a setup that's become a fixture on Hyperliquid for names that haven't gone public yet. This whale is betting that implied value slides.

Leverage cuts both ways, and 6x on a $30.1 million position means the margin behind it is a fraction of the notional size. A move against the short would bite fast; a move in its favor pays out just as quickly. Perp markets also lean on funding rates to keep prices tethered, so a crowded one-sided book can get expensive to hold.

The bet lands on Hyperliquid, the decentralized exchange that has become a hub for these kinds of pre-IPO and novel perp listings. It's also a signal-watch moment for anyone tracking how private AI companies get priced in crypto markets — before the traditional IPO machinery gets anywhere near them.

For now, it's one whale, one direction, two markets. Whether others pile in behind it — or fade it — is the next thing to watch.