TL;DR

Anthropic targets $10B at $170B valuation; Thoma Bravo takes Dayforce private for $12.3B; crypto capital formation rebounds.

Highlights

• Anthropic is in advanced talks to raise up to $10B at a ~$170B valuation, with Iconiq Capital, TPG, Lightspeed, Spark, and Menlo expected to participate 1.
• Thoma Bravo will acquire Dayforce in a $12.3B all-cash take-private deal, with ADIA taking a minority stake; Goldman Sachs providing $6B in debt financing 2.
• Jane Street disclosed a 5.4% passive stake in CoreWeave , supporting shares after a significant drawdown; analysts upgraded the stock 3.
• Gilead ’s Kite Pharma is acquiring Interius BioTherapeutics for $350M to expand in-vivo CAR-T capabilities, continuing a trend of large-pharma cell therapy M&A 4.
• Lightning AI, backed by Nvidia , launched a multicloud GPU marketplace, promising up to 70% cost savings for AI developers 5.
• Crypto fundraising platform Legion closed a $5M seed round led by VanEck and Brevan Howard Digital; Almanak’s token sale hit its $2M cap in 45 minutes 6.
• MetaMask will launch mUSD , a Stripe-issued stablecoin on Ethereum and Linea, aiming for deep wallet and card integration 9.
• CME and FanDuel are forming a JV to offer $1 event-based trading contracts to retail users, pending regulatory review 10.
• Chipotle began drone delivery trials in Dallas with Zipline, targeting last-mile logistics and Gen Z customers 11.
• Arthur Hayes (BitMEX) took a position in BIO tokens and invested in a stem-cell clinic operator in Mexico and Bangkok 12.
• Meta has paused AI hiring after a rapid expansion, citing cost discipline 13.
• SpaceX opened its “Starfactory” to mass-produce Starship rockets and plans to resume launches on August 24 14.
• Circle minted $750M more USDC on Solana , bringing 2025’s total to nearly $25B 15.
• DeepSeek launched its V3.1 hybrid LLM (128k context), open-sourced weights, and raised API prices 8.

Commentary

Late-stage AI continues to command extraordinary investor attention, with Anthropic’s targeted $10B round at a $170B valuation highlighting the sector’s capital intensity and the willingness of top-tier VCs and institutional investors to deploy at scale 1. This sets a high-water mark for private AI rounds and will likely influence pricing and expectations for growth-stage AI startups across the board.

Private equity’s appetite for recurring-revenue software remains robust, as evidenced by Thoma Bravo’s $12.3B Dayforce deal—its largest take-private to date 2. The transaction, backed by significant debt financing, underscores continued institutional demand for predictable SaaS revenue even amid market volatility. Meanwhile, Jane Street’s stake in CoreWeave and analyst upgrades suggest public market volatility is creating entry points for institutional capital in AI infrastructure 3.

In crypto and fintech, the resurgence in on-chain capital formation is clear: Legion’s $5M seed and rapid token sale, MetaMask’s Stripe-issued mUSD stablecoin, and Circle’s ongoing USDC expansion on Solana all point to renewed investor and user engagement, with more regulatory rigor than previous cycles 6915. The CME /FanDuel JV signals further convergence between financial infrastructure and retail trading, potentially opening new distribution channels for fintech startups 10.

Strategic M&A continues in health-tech, with Gilead ’s acquisition of Interius reflecting ongoing interest in cell and gene therapy platforms 4. Arthur Hayes’ parallel bets in genomics tokens and private clinics highlight a cross-border appetite for longevity and biotech assets 12. Separately, SpaceX’s Starfactory launch and Chipotle ’s Zipline pilot indicate that large-scale manufacturing and last-mile logistics remain investible themes, with operational scale and automation in focus 1114.

VCs should monitor late-stage AI deal terms, SaaS take-private activity, and the evolving regulatory environment in crypto and fintech. Cost discipline at major platforms (Meta 13, DeepSeek 8) signals margin pressure even in growth sectors, which may impact future deal structures and exit timelines.