Anthropic submitted its S-1 registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, October 26, 2026 marking a major step toward a Nasdaq listing under the ticker ANT.
The filing reveals explosive growth alongside steep losses and detailed risk factors.
Meanwhile, on-chain markets moved even faster.
Traders on Hyperliquid had already opened a pre-initial public offering (IPO) perpetual futures contract, and positioning data from Nansen shows sophisticated wallets taking clear sides.
The pre-IPO perp launched near $138 and has since slipped to roughly $114.
That price action reflects early price discovery before any official share count or pricing range appears in the prospectus.
Smart money wallets tracked by Nansen currently hold about $103K long against $233K short.
Public figures lean even more heavily short at $55K long versus $394K short.
Whales sit at $1.00M long and $1.28M short. All three cohorts therefore maintain a net short bias.
What does the Hyperliquid positioning reveal about Anthropic expectations?
Large individual bets stand out clearly. One Hyperliquid perps day trader holds roughly $916K long.
On the opposite side, several wallets maintain six-figure shorts, including positions near $408K, $228K, $231K, $118K and $98K.
These opposing views create a lively two-way market. At the same time, the overall tilt toward shorts suggests many experienced traders expect the eventual IPO price to land below the levels implied by the early perp highs.
Why are on-chain traders able to express views so early?
Hyperliquid’s pre-IPO perpetual design lets participants trade an oracle driven by the order book itself rather than an external reference.
Funding rates stay modest until the actual listing, after which the contract converts into a standard perpetual.
This structure gives traders a continuous venue for expressing directional views weeks before the roadshow begins.
In the meantime, traditional equity investors must wait for the final prospectus details and allocation process.
How does Anthropic’s financial picture influence the debate?
The S-1 shows first-half 2026 revenue of $16.3 billion, a dramatic rise from the prior year.
Yet, the company still reported a large net loss, driven largely by non-cash accounting items tied to convertible notes.
Enterprise adoption looks strong, with thousands of customers spending six or seven figures annually.
Still, the scale of compute commitments and the competitive intensity in frontier AI models remain key uncertainties that public-market investors will scrutinise closely.
Price discovery for Anthropic is already unfolding in real time on Hyperliquid.
Whether the net-short bias among smart money, public figures and whales proves correct will become clearer once the company sets its final IPO terms, expected sometime in November.
For now, the on-chain market offers a transparent window into how sophisticated traders are positioning ahead of one of the most anticipated listings in years.
