Kraken exchange has begun offering cash-settled perpetual futures tied to the private valuations of OpenAI and Anthropic. According to Crypto News, the product gives traders up to five times leverage to gain price exposure to two leading artificial intelligence companies before they go public. The contracts do not provide shares, voting rights, dividends, or ownership stakes in the companies – they are pure derivative instruments for tracking market expectations regarding the companies' valuations. Kraken initially announced the launch of both products in June, then re-promoted the Anthropic contract on September 6. Anthropic futures trade under the ticker PF_ANTHROPICXUSD, while OpenAI futures trade – under PF_OPENAIXUSD.
Contract prices are formed through the Kraken PreMarket synthetic index, which uses exponential smoothing to reduce the impact of short-term fluctuations in the order book. Quotes are fixed within a band of 0.25% around the index, helping to prevent liquidations caused by price spikes in a thin market. Funding is calculated every hour; Kraken characterizes these payments as structurally minimal during the pre-IPO period due to the narrow quote band. Leverage decreases as position size grows: the base is 5x (with an initial margin of 20%), but as exposure increases it falls to approximately 3.3x and then to 2x. The minimum maintenance margin is 10%. The contracts have no expiration date, support both long and short positions, and are settled in US dollars through a multi-collateral derivatives account. Kraken explicitly states that it has no affiliation, endorsement, or sponsorship from OpenAI or Anthropic, and emphasizes that contract holders receive no voting rights, information rights, or access to a future IPO.
The products are unavailable to clients from the United States, the European Economic Area, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; in the United Kingdom, only professional clients may trade them. The contracts are offered by Payward Digital Solutions, incorporated in Bermuda and licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. History shows that synthetic futures on private companies can fluctuate significantly without a stable reference point: Anthropic futures fell 9% after appearing on other exchanges. If OpenAI or Anthropic complete an IPO, Kraken plans to convert the contracts into an index based on the respective company's xStocks product, with the initial margin, maintenance margin, position limits, and funding rules to be revised accordingly. Kraken is already expanding its tokenized securities infrastructure: its xStocks offering now provides access to hundreds of listed securities, and a recent partnership with the London Stock Exchange could potentially add major British companies, subject to regulatory approval.
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This material is prepared for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation.