For much of Asia, accessing Anthropic's blockbuster IPO may prove nearly impossible, pushing investors toward proxy bets. The AI firm is set for an equity offering valuing the company at around $1.5 trillion. While Japan and Australia are included internationally, high demand and various restrictions make access difficult. Investors are turning to companies with stakes in Anthropic, crypto derivatives, and semiconductor stocks as indirect exposure.
The biggest Anthropic bet in Asia runs through the region's chip industry. Anthropic's roughly $800 billion compute buildout points to benefits for leading foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and memory makers like SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. The IPO filing highlights Anthropic's dependence on advanced chips manufactured by TSMC, warning that supply constraints at the Taiwanese supplier are a key concern. SK Hynix and Samsung are also identified as major producers of high-bandwidth memory used in AI computing.
Less obvious trades include SK Telecom Co., whose early investment in Anthropic has grown into a multibillion-dollar holding. Commonwealth Bank of Australia offers another route, having purchased a stake valued at more than $1 billion as of June. NEC Corp. became Anthropic's first Japan-based global partner in April, joining the AI developer and eight Japanese financial institutions to develop AI applications for the financial industry. NEC shares are up 45% from their June low, while CBA's stock has risen 8% this month. SK Telecom shares have climbed 9% over the past two sessions, though they remain well off their June peak.
Beyond direct equity, cryptocurrency exchanges are trading bets on Anthropic. OKX introduced Anthropic-linked perpetual futures in May, followed by Binance in June. On Hyperliquid's Entropy IO venue, linked futures implied a valuation of about $1.88 trillion. Platforms including PU Prime have introduced contracts-for-difference products allowing traders to speculate on price changes without holding the underlying asset.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing