Crypto platforms see threefold surge in private AI company bet trading
Updated
Updated · The Japan Times · May 5
Crypto platforms see threefold surge in private AI company bet trading
16 articles · Updated · The Japan Times · May 5
Ventuals and PreStocks said open interest and market value combined more than tripled from the start of 2026 to April.
The products let retail traders take round-the-clock, leveraged positions on private groups including Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX, which are otherwise largely inaccessible.
Major crypto exchanges are also listing pre-IPO assets, and Trade.xyz on Hyperliquid is joining the market, extending this private-market speculation to millions more users.
As crypto offers shares in firms like OpenAI, are retail investors buying a real opportunity or just Wall Street's leftover risk?
Anthropic's new AI can hack financial systems. Is letting retail investors bet on it creating an uncontrollable new danger?
If private companies disavow these crypto 'shares', what exactly are investors in this new shadow market actually buying?