The venture secondary market’s biggest names are leaving. Now what?

SpaceX went public. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are preparing IPOs at valuations that could clear $1 trillion. For years, these three names have dominated venture secondary volumes, and now they are all leaving the secondary market at once. This analyst note breaks down what happens when a market this concentrated loses its biggest companies, and which startups are already positioned to become the next generation of trophy names.

Growth this fast does not come without friction. Anthropic’s crackdown on special purpose vehicles (SPVs) spooked secondary investors who feared their shares had been nullified overnight. A patent lawsuit between Nasdaq Private Market and Hiive could decide who controls the trading infrastructure for the entire industry. Fraud and inflated fees, already attaching a stigma to SPVs, are about to get worse as SpaceX’s lockups expire and years of opaque dealmaking finally become clear. READ MORE