A trader made $1.5m buying Anthropic ‘shares’ on Solana. Cashing out the win won’t be easy

A trader who invested in Solana tokens representing exposure to buzzy artificial intelligence developer Anthropic is up almost $1.5 million on their bet.

There’s just one snag — there’s no one to sell them to.

The problem is that the trader owns 31% of the 8,227 Anthropic tokens issued by PreStocks, a platform that sells economic exposure of private companies before they go public.

DL News ran simulations for selling the trader’s stash through several major exchange aggregators on the Solana blockchain, where the tokens are issued.

The best result is that the trader could sell around 950 tokens at a 34% discount below the asset’s price of around $911 per token. That would allow them to cash out $572,000, about the same amount they spent buying the tokens in the first place. None of the exchanges could fulfill a swap for all the trader’s 2,593 tokens.

In short, while the trader may have made $1.5 million on paper, they currently have no easy way to cash out for anywhere close to that amount unless more buyers step in.

PreStocks says investors can request direct redemptions of their tokens. Yet the process costs money, requires passing know-your-customer checks, and ultimately depends on the platform’s ability to liquidate the underlying positions.

The situation highlights the pitfalls of investing in tokens that represent exposure to companies that don’t yet trade publicly.

Issuers often claim that their tokens are backed one-to-one by shares of private companies like Anthropic, SpaceX, and OpenAI. But investors don’t receive any of the same rights and assurances they would receive buying a company’s shares directly, or through a regulated platform.

‘Special Purpose Vehicles’

Launched in August, PreStocks advertises that retail investors can use the platform to gain exposure to private companies with no minimum investment, no paperwork, and no management or performance fees.

The platform provides these opportunities by setting up Special Purpose Vehicles, or SPVs, legal entities that acquire actual shares or exposure to the target private companies through secondary markets or private deals.

After doing so, PreStocks issues tradable tokens on Solana which are supposed to represent these shares or exposure at a one-to-one ratio.

The scheme gives retail investors the opportunity to gain exposure to private companies, something normally reserved for institutions and professional investors.

Yet it has also been criticised by many in the crypto industry.

In addition to the issues with cashing out large numbers of tokens, the biggest complaint is the lack of transparency surrounding the SPVs who supposedly hold the exposure that backs the tokens.

Multiple sources report that PreStocks said it will issue regular external audit reports and, upon request, provide individual verification for a fee.

So far, the platform has yet to do so.

There’s also the issue of mismatches between the valuations of PreStocks’ tokens and the companies they represent. These valuations depend on the platform's sourcing and market dynamics, which can diverge due to thin liquidity or speculation.

In February, Anthropic closed a Series G funding round which valued the firm at $380 billion. This puts the value of a single share in the firm at between $259 and $346 — far below the $911 price PreStocks’ Anthropic token trades at.

To be sure, it’s not an issue unique to PreStocks. Similar platforms that do not use blockchains for distribution also have the same problem. One such platform, called Hiive, lists Anthropic shares for trading at $849.

PreStocks and its founder Xavier Ekkel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.