Anthropic recently updated its website, cautioning investors about numerous private and secondary investment platforms offering unauthorized access to its shares. The company specifically named Open Doors Partners, Unicorns Exchange, Pachamama Capital, Lionheart Ventures, Hiive, Forge Global, Sydecar, and Upmarket as firms not authorized to buy or sell its stock.
Unauthorized Platforms Named
Anthropic's blog post emphasized, "Any sale or transfer of Anthropic stock, or any interest in Anthropic stock, offered by these firms is void and will not be recognized on our books and records." In response, Forge Global claimed their inclusion was a mistake, stating, "We are working with Anthropic to remove Forge’s name from this alert. Forge does not facilitate transactions in any private company’s shares without the explicit approval of the company."
Rise of Secondary Market Offerings
This announcement comes amid a surge of investment platforms providing exposure to AI companies via secondary markets, where current shareholders sell shares through "tokenized" securities, special purpose vehicles (SPVs), or secondary market holdings. Anthropic has been in high demand, with secondary market brokers describing it as one of the "hardest" stocks to source.
Crypto and Derivative Products
Crypto companies like OKX have introduced investment products that capitalize on AI companies, offering pre-IPO perpetual futures contracts. These derivatives track the value of private companies on secondary markets but don't confer actual share ownership.
Anthropic's Share Transfer Restrictions
Anthropic states that both its preferred and common stock are subject to transfer restrictions, rendering any unapproved share sale or transfer invalid. The company reiterated that third-party platforms, especially SPVs and retail investment firms, claiming to sell shares directly or through forward contracts, are unauthorized. Anthropic's blog details, "We do not permit special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to acquire Anthropic stock and any transfer of shares to an SPV are void under our transfer restrictions. Offers to invest in Anthropic’s past or future financing rounds through an SPV are prohibited."
These developments highlight the complexities and risks associated with investing in high-demand AI companies like Anthropic, which is rumored to be raising funds at a $900 billion valuation.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/12/anthropic-warns-investors-against-secondary-platforms-offering-access-to-its-shares/
