Forum operates a regulated exchange that tokenizes human attention by creating real‑time indices from aggregated search, social and streaming data, allowing users to buy or sell exposure to movies, artists, brands, or topics. The platform provides a web dashboard and API for trading, risk management, and compliance, and earns revenue through per‑trade transaction fees and built‑in bid‑ask spreads.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Investors and brands lack a tradable financial instrument that reflects real‑time shifts in public attention, making it difficult to hedge cultural risk or monetize personal taste. Existing markets do not capture engagement signals from search, social, or streaming platforms, so exposure to virality remains unquantifiable.
Solution
Forum operates a regulated exchange that tokenizes human attention by constructing quantitative indices from aggregated engagement data across search engines, social networks, and streaming services. Each index represents the popularity of a specific movie, artist, brand, or topic, and is offered as a regulated asset that can be bought long or sold short. The platform provides a web‑based trading interface and an API, enabling participants to enter, adjust, or exit positions in real time based on the latest relevance scores. All data pipelines and index calculations comply with financial‑industry standards for transparency and auditability, allowing users to hedge cultural exposure or speculate on emerging trends with the same risk controls as traditional securities.
Target Audience
Primary users are retail and institutional traders, hedge funds, and brand managers who need a liquid instrument to hedge or speculate on cultural and media trends. The API also serves media analytics platforms seeking to embed attention‑based pricing into their services.
Features
- Automated data ingestion from Google Trends, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, and major streaming APIs, normalized and de‑duplicated in a secure ETL workflow.
- Proprietary relevance‑scoring engine that applies weighted time‑series analytics and machine‑learning models to generate a continuous attention index.
- Regulated asset classification (SEC‑registered, FINRA‑compliant) with real‑time price discovery and order‑book matching.
- Web dashboard with live index charts, position management tools, and risk metrics (exposure limits, margin requirements).
- RESTful API and WebSocket feed for programmatic order routing, portfolio integration, and third‑party analytics.
- Built‑in compliance layer offering KYC/AML verification, transaction monitoring, and audit logs for institutional users.
- Transparent fee schedule with per‑trade transaction fees and bid‑ask spreads, displayed on each market page.