Forum

Roadmap & Position in Digital Asset Trading

Building the first regulated exchange where attention is traded as a standardized commodity.

Company Overview

The first regulated exchange for trading attention as a standardized commodity, enabling advertisers, brands, and creators to buy, sell, and hedge digital engagement as a quantifiable asset class.

What They're Building

The company's public product roadmap & what they're committed to building.

Forum has publicly launched a beta platform at forum.market where users trade with simulated currency ($1,000 starting balance). They are building an Attention Index that aggregates engagement signals (views, likes, comments, shares) across search, streaming, and social platforms. Users can go long or short on the index for various topics. Forum is actively working with regulators to bring real-money trading to the US market, pursuing regulated exchange status (likely DCM or SEF).

Latest Intelligence

Zeitgeist tracks private signals to determine where the company is heading strategically.

Attention Becomes A Tradable Index

May 13, 2026

Confidence:

Medium

New Intel: Forum is building a regulated exchange for trading attention, starting with simulated positions on an Attention Index. If regulators approve real-money markets, engagement becomes a hedgeable media asset.

Founder and Key Execs

Owen Botkin, Co-Founder & CEO

Co-Founder & CEO

Joseph Thomas, Co-Founder & CTO

Co-Founder & CTO

Founder Force Multiplier

Owen Botkin's institutional trading background at Balyasny Asset Management (L/S equities, dropped out of Northwestern to build Forum) gives Forum crossover expertise in exchange microstructure and quantitative pricing, while Joseph Thomas's engineering experience at NASA and.

Funding History

2026 | Owen Botkin and Joseph Thomas co-found Forum.
2026 | Accepted into Y Combinator Winter 2026 batch.
2026 | Beta launched at forum.market with simulated trading.
2026 | Working with regulators for real-money trading approval.

Competitors

Ad Exchanges

Google Ad Exchange, The Trade Desk, Xandr.

Attention Measurement

Adelaide, Lumen Research.

Creator Economy

Rally, Patreon.

Prediction Markets

Kalshi, Polymarket.

Blockchain

Basic Attention Token/Brave.

Forum

's Moat:

First-mover in attention-as-commodity exchange. The Attention Index aggregating engagement signals across platforms is proprietary. Regulatory clearance for real-money trading, if obtained, creates a licensing moat. Two-sided marketplace (advertisers buying, creators selling) generates network effects.

How They're Leveraging AI

Attention Scoring & Pricing

ML-powered real-time quantification and dynamic pricing of human attention across digital platforms to create standardized tradable contracts.

Fraud & Anomaly Detection

ML-driven detection of fake engagement, bot traffic, and market manipulation to ensure the integrity of attention contracts traded on the exchange.

Attention Demand Forecasting

ML models that forecast future attention supply and demand across content categories, demographics, and platforms to enable forward contract creation and fair settlement.

AI Use Overview:

Using ML-powered attention scoring and pricing models, fraud and anomaly detection for market integrity, and attention demand forecasting for contract valuation.

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