AI Frenzy vs. Crypto Winter: Cerebras Sets Year’s Largest IPO as Crypto Funding Hits Freezing Point

TradingKey - On May 14, artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker Cerebras Systems (CBRS) completed its U.S. IPO, raising $5.55 billion, exceeding the previous market expectation of $5.5 billion. Reportedly, the pricing of $150 to $160 per share will bring its market capitalization to $40 billion, with a fully diluted valuation of approximately $49 billion, making it the largest IPO of the year.

AI IPOs: Sky-High Valuations

In February 2026, AI unicorn Anthropic completed a $30 billion funding round, with a post-money valuation reaching $380 billion. According to recent reports, Anthropic intends to conduct a new round of financing, planning to raise at least $30 billion to $50 billion in new capital, with an expected valuation exceeding $900 billion. Market rumors suggest that Anthropic is considering an IPO as early as October this year.

In March this year, AI giant OpenAI completed a staggering $122 billion Series G funding round, which pushed its valuation to $852 billion, briefly making OpenAI the highest-valued startup in global history, though it has now been surpassed by Anthropic. Rumors indicate that OpenAI will go public in the fourth quarter of 2026, but internal documents predict that OpenAI faces a massive loss of $14 billion in 2026, which may delay the IPO until 2027.

Cryptocurrency IPOs: Postponed and Paused

Unlike the AI sector, financing for cryptocurrency companies has entered a deep freeze. According to market news, Ethereum ( ETH) developer Consensys plans to postpone its IPO plans until the fall, while crypto hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger has directly suspended its IPO plans. Currently, Web3 service provider Web3Labs Global is also applying for an IPO, but its valuation is only $141 million, drawing very little attention.

At present, the only relatively high-profile IPO project remaining in the crypto market is the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. Last November, Kraken's parent company Payward submitted a draft S-1 registration statement. In March this year, market reports stated the company had paused its IPO plans, but its co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated at the Consensus conference in Miami in May that the IPO was 80% ready. Market rumors suggest the company will go public in Q4 this year, with a valuation in the $15 billion to $20 billion range, a significant decline from the $30 billion rumored during the 2021 bull market.

It is evident that market capital is currently exhibiting a strong "siphon effect," with funds continuously flowing toward AI hardware and infrastructure with clearer technical paths and revenue models, while the cryptocurrency sector has fallen out of favor due to a lack of these qualities. This also implies that if crypto companies can integrate with AI development, such as the AI agent economy, they may have an opportunity to break through the IPO deep freeze.