OKX Australia launches pre-IPO perpetual futures for OpenAI, Anthropic

The news: Digital asset platform OKX Australia has launched “Pre-IPO Perpetual Futures” on Wednesday, a move that enables wholesale clients to gain speculative exposure to major private companies before their offical stock market debuts.

The context: OKX stated that the launch will allow eligible investors to hold long or short positions on the implied valuations of private companies, with up to 10x leverage and around the clock trading.

The company added that the launch will expand the range of global markets available to Australian wholesale clients amid surging appetite for major technology and AI firms, starting with OpenAI and Anthropic.

Pre-IPO Perps are derivative contracts that provide price exposure to a private company’s implied valuation. However, they do not represent shares or ownership in the underlying entity, and their market price does not constitute an official company valuation.

Once the target company goes public, its Pre-IPO Perp can transition into a standard futures contract, providing continuity for traders as the asset moves from private to public markets.

What they said: “OpenAI and Anthropic are two of the most closely watched private companies in the world. Historically, even where there is a great deal of interest, there have been limited ways for investors to express a view on valuations before an IPO. Traditional methods were available exclusively to a small segment of high-net-worth investors” OKX CEO Shane Chandra said.

“Pre-IPO Perps change that. Eligible wholesale clients can take a long position if they believe a company is undervalued, or go short if they think expectations have moved too far,” he added.

The source: OKX Australia media release