Tokens for Anthropic, OpenAI Drop Nearly 40% After Invalid Transfer Warning

Tokens on the Solana blockchain that offer investors indirect exposure to privately held companies Anthropic and OpenAI experienced significant declines this week, with values plummeting nearly 40%. The downturn occurred after both companies issued warnings that the structures supporting these tokens violate their share transfer rules.

According to official statements, the special purpose vehicles (SPVs) used to hold shares for these tokens lack necessary board approvals, rendering any such transfers invalid. Anthropic stated, "We do not permit special purpose vehicles to acquire Anthropic stock and any transfer of shares to an SPV are void under our transfer restrictions." OpenAI echoed this sentiment, cautioning investors that unauthorized transactions might infringe U.S. securities laws.

This week, the Anthropic PreStocks token, which represents shares in Anthropic, fell by 34%, while the OpenAI PreStocks token dropped 39%, as reported by CoinGecko. Both companies have indicated that individuals or businesses attempting to facilitate these illegitimate transactions may at best be misrepresenting their value and may be engaged in fraudulent activities.

Concerns have also been raised about the liquidity of the tokens. Data from PreStocks, the platform issuing these tokens, suggests that there is only approximately $333,000 in stablecoins and $18,000 in Solana (SOL) backing the Anthropic liquidity pool. Given these numbers, early investors may find it difficult to cash out their investments despite inflated implied valuations as high as $1.3 trillion for Anthropic, in stark contrast to the mere $23 million in total assets backing the platform.

PreStocks, launched in August 2025 and led by CEO Xavier Ekkel, aims to allow trading of private equity tokens but faces scrutiny for lacking attestation reports to validate its asset claims. Notably, the platform is not available to residents of the U.S., Singapore, the European Union, and other sanctioned areas. Additionally, partnerships formed at its inception included decentralized exchanges like Jupiter and Meteora.

As the situation unfolds, key factors to monitor include the response from PreStocks and ongoing communications from Anthropic and OpenAI regarding their regulatory positions and measures to protect investors amidst these developments.