Bybit is expanding its Pre-IPO derivatives offering with synthetic perpetual contracts linked to the estimated valuations of OpenAI, Anthropic and Shein. The exchange listed OPENAIUSDT and ANTHROPICUSDT in July before adding SHEINUSDT on August 27. The products give traders leveraged exposure to private-company valuation movements without providing shares, voting rights or any ownership interest in the underlying businesses. Bybit’s OpenAI and Anthropic listing caps leverage at 20x, while SHEINUSDT offers up to 10x.
All three contracts settle in USDT and trade continuously once their initial auction process is complete. Before any IPO-related rebase, their pricing relies on estimated share counts and market supply and demand within Bybit rather than an observable public share price. That makes the contracts synthetic valuation instruments, not tokenized equities or claims on private-company stock. Bybit explicitly warns that pre-IPO prices may differ substantially from eventual public-market prices.
Estimated Share Counts Anchor Pre-IPO Pricing
OPENAIUSDT and ANTHROPICUSDT each use an estimated share count of 1 billion, while SHEINUSDT starts from an estimate of 4.25 billion shares. Bybit says those assumptions are informational and can be adjusted once actual share counts become available through public filings. A future rebase would change contract sizing to reflect the official share structure while aiming to preserve the economic value of existing positions.
The IPO backdrop is also more concrete for the two AI companies than a simple market rumor. OpenAI announced on June 8 that it had confidentially submitted a draft S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, while Anthropic disclosed a similar submission on June 1. Neither filing guarantees an IPO or fixes a listing date, meaning Bybit traders remain exposed to uncertainty over whether and when a public offering actually occurs.
During the pre-IPO phase, the contracts carry a fixed funding rate of 0.005% every four hours. After a qualifying IPO and conversion into a standard TradFi perpetual, Bybit says funding and other specifications would shift to its normal post-listing mechanisms. The exchange also retains broad discretion to modify leverage, margin requirements, tick sizes, order limits and pricing inputs.
Leverage Amplifies an Already Uncertain Reference Price
The combination of leverage and a private-company reference introduces risks beyond those of conventional stock ownership. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has warned more broadly that leveraged and complex financial products can magnify losses and may be difficult for retail investors to evaluate. Those concerns are particularly relevant when the underlying company has no continuously traded public share price against which the derivative can be benchmarked.
Bybit says it is not affiliated with OpenAI, Anthropic or Shein and does not guarantee that any of the companies will ultimately complete an IPO. If an offering is canceled or restructured, the exchange may delist or settle the relevant contract under its own rules. The appeal is early, around-the-clock exposure to private-company valuations, but traders are ultimately pricing an estimate whose connection to a future IPO price remains uncertain.
