Bitwise’s Matt Hougan Says the Anthropic IPO Could Open the Floodgates for Crypto. Why Would an AI Listing Matter?
Bitwise's Matt Hougan thinks a single AI IPO could redirect billions of dollars toward crypto, but the same event might first drain capital away from Bitcoin and Coinbase before any windfall arrives.
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Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan believes the future influx of money into crypto could hinge on an AI company’s success. On The Rollup podcast, Hougan explained that once the Anthropic IPO is complete, we could see a significant flow of capital moving toward tokenization and stablecoins.
Anthropic, known for creating the Claude language models, filed its S-1 on October 26, 2026, with plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker “ANT,” though the share count and price range are yet to be determined. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is trading at $77,324, roughly 38% below its record close of $124,740 on October 6, 2025. So, why might one AI IPO influence the future direction of crypto?
Why Hougan Believes AI Capital Will Shift to Crypto
Hougan, along with Ryan Rasmussen, Bitwise’s head of research, suggests that those who intended to exit digital assets have already done so. They believe short-term disruptions from the Federal Reserve’s actions, upcoming elections, and the AI sector might obscure a longer-term opportunity in which 300,000 financial advisors make a 2% allocation to crypto.
In Hougan’s view, a successful IPO generally boosts interest in riskier investments, creates a wealth effect for early investors, and connects two sectors with overlapping interests. Once Anthropic’s shares are available for trading, employees and early backers may have liquid wealth they can redistribute, with some possibly flowing into crypto.
This connection is particularly evident with NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction), which has invested in Anthropic and said the lab will initially adopt 1 gigawatt of computing capacity on NVIDIA’s Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems. NVIDIA’s stock is priced at $209, up 12.1% in 2026, so a strong debut for Anthropic could further support NVIDIA’s impressive $96.2 billion quarterly performance.
SpaceX’s Record IPO Dented Bitcoin Before a Rally
A similar scenario occurred with SpaceX’s IPO on June 12, the largest in history. Bitcoin was priced at $60,960 on June 5 but dropped 3.9% to $58,566 by June 30 as the IPO took in cash. However, Bitcoin recovered significantly, surging 47.9% to reach $86,597 by September 21.
While this aligns with Hougan’s perspective, one IPO alone cannot establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship, particularly since Coinbase’s CFO (NASDAQ: COIN) attributed the momentum to increased ETF inflows into Bitcoin that quarter. Traders also got early insight into Anthropic’s demand when Coinbase introduced pre-IPO perpetual futures for Anthropic on June 22, and those contracts fell as much as 9% after they launched.
Coinbase and AI Tokens Could Feel the Anthropic IPO First
Coinbase stands out as the most direct stock play in line with Hougan’s predictions, as its growth is driven by tokenization and stablecoins. In the third quarter, stablecoin revenue rose 5% to $307 million, supported by a record $22 billion in average USD Coin (CRYPTO: USDC) balances, even as total revenue fell 35% to $1.22 billion.
Nevertheless, this growth has not impressed investors. Coinbase’s stock is currently trading at $143, down 36.8% in 2026 and 23.3% over the past month, with Morgan Stanley advising clients to steer clear of the shares.
AI-related tokens create a strong link between these two sectors. Bittensor (CRYPTO: TAO) incentivizes contributors to develop AI models, while NEAR Protocol (CRYPTO: NEAR) supports AI developers through its smart contract blockchain. Currently, NEAR is trading at $4 after an 11.9% drop in the past week, retracing part of its October rally.
Could the Anthropic IPO Lead to More Money in Crypto?
Hougan’s thesis seems plausible, but any significant move into crypto might not happen until weeks after ANT begins trading. Early investors in Anthropic won’t be able to distribute their gains until their shares are publicly traded. The trend following the June IPO suggests that crypto could initially dip as capital is redirected into this major offering.
In the month after the Anthropic IPO prices, shifts in Coinbase’s stablecoin balances and Bitcoin ETF inflows could signal the direction of money flows. If both metrics increase while ANT performs well, it suggests that wealth from AI is flowing into crypto. However, if Bitcoin struggles to surpass its October 29 closing price of $77,839 while ANT rallies, it may indicate that the IPO is siphoning money away from Coinbase and NEAR.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
