Forum Markets
Forum Markets (NASDAQ: FRMM) is a publicly traded platform that securitizes real-world assets including aviation, manufactured housing, and auto loans as compliant digital securities on Ethereum Layer 2, serving accredited and institutional investors through regulated broker-dealer and ATS partners.
- Company typePublic
- Founded2025
- HeadquartersMenlo Park, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Forum Markets does
Forum Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ: FRMM) is a publicly traded institutional technology platform that securitizes real-world assets (RWAs) as compliant digital securities on Ethereum Layer 2 infrastructure (Arbitrum). The company originates and structures tokenized products across aviation, manufactured housing, and auto finance through equity stakes in asset originators including Karus (20%, AI-driven auto finance) and Zippy (15%, manufactured housing lending), and distributes them via a partnership with Liquidity.io's SEC-registered Digital Alternative Trading System. Its flagship product, Eurus Aero Token I, offers accredited investors fractional ownership in commercial jet engines leased to a leading U.S. airline through subsidiary ETHZilla Aerospace, with contractual lease terms extending into 2028 and a target return of 11%.
Forum Markets generates revenue through three streams: aircraft engine rentals (recurring lease income from jet engines acquired for ~$12.2 million), on-chain staking of digital assets, and transaction fees from structuring and distributing tokenized asset offerings. The platform architecture combines regulated broker-dealer infrastructure, qualified custody, institutional settlement, and Ethereum Layer 2 issuance rails to serve accredited and institutional investors seeking fractional access to historically illiquid private assets. Pricing is unit-based for tokenized products (e.g., $100 per token with $1,000 minimum for Eurus Aero) while institutional placements are negotiated.
The company underwent two strategic pivots within 12 months: it rebranded from 180 Life Sciences Corp. (biotech, founded 2013) to ETHZilla Corporation in August 2025 after raising $565 million to pursue an Ethereum treasury strategy, then rebranded again to Forum Markets in February-March 2026 as ETH prices declined and the treasury thesis unraveled. Forum Markets is headquartered in Palm Beach, Florida, operates with a small team (1-10 employees), and is led by a recently refreshed executive and board team including CFO John T. Saunders and SVP of Corporate Communications John D. Kristoff.
Forum Markets firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Forum Markets
- Legal name
- Forum Markets, Incorporated
- Website
- https://ethzilla.com
- Company type
- Public
- Founded year
- 2025
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Forum Markets (NASDAQ: FRMM) is a publicly traded platform that securitizes real-world assets including aviation, manufactured housing, and auto loans as compliant digital securities on Ethereum Layer 2, serving accredited and institutional investors through regulated broker-dealer and ATS partners.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Forum Markets industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Asset Tokenization / Real-World Asset Securitization
- NAICS
- Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150), Securities and Commodity Exchanges (5232), Securities and Commodity Exchanges (52321)
- SIC
- Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Asset-Backed Securities (6189)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Prime Brokerage & Institutional Trading Services (FSAPADAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Institutional Spot Exchanges & Broker-Dealers (FSADAAAC), Marketplace & Loan Aggregation Platforms (Borrower-Lender Matching) (FSAGAHAL)
Keywords
Where Forum Markets is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Menlo Park
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Forum Markets business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Aircraft Engine Rentals: Revenue generated from leasing commercial jet engines to leading US airlines. The company acquired jet engines for approximately $12.2 million and leases them under contractual terms extending into 2028, generating rental income.
- Staking Activities: Revenue from blockchain staking activities related to ETH holdings. Generated $2.9 million in Q1 2026 from aircraft engine rentals and staking combined, up from zero revenue in the prior year period.
- Real-World Asset Tokenization Services: Revenue generated through tokenizing real-world assets including manufactured home loans, auto loans, and aviation assets. The company partners with originators like Karus and Zippy to bring assets on-chain and generate fees from structuring and distribution.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Multi-year contract | Eurus Aero Token I - Jet Engine Lease Investment |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels2 records
Forum Markets product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Forum Markets is an institutional technology platform that securitizes real-world assets as compliant digital securities on Ethereum Layer 2. The company partners with vetted asset originators (e.g., Zippy for aircraft engine leasing through Karus) to structure, issue, and distribute regulated tokenized offerings such as the Eurus aerospace engine product, then sells units to qualified institutional and accredited investors. Core revenue is generated through token issuance, management fees embedded in unit pricing, and underlying asset cash flows (e.g., aircraft engine leasing income).
Product overview
Forum Markets is an institutional technology platform for securitizing real-world assets (RWAs) as compliant digital securities on Ethereum Layer 2 networks. The platform is built on SEC-registered trading infrastructure and regulated broker-dealer partnerships, connecting asset originators (including Karus for auto loans and Zippy for manufactured home loans) through underwriting, token issuance, and regulated market access. Core product offerings include aircraft engine leasing (generating rental revenue), Eurus Aero Token I (a tokenized aviation asset on Arbitrum), manufactured home loan tokenization via Zippy, auto loan portfolio tokenization via Karus, and on-chain staking activities — all unified under a single institutional platform architecture for broad distribution and secondary liquidity.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Eurus Aero Token I: Tokenized aviation product backed by leased commercial jet engines, offering accredited investors fractional ownership with an estimated 11% return based on engine leases extending into 2028.
Products and services
- Forum Markets Platform Core institutional platform that securitizes real-world assets as compliant digital securities on Ethereum Layer 2, with end-to-end legal structuring, on-chain issuance, custody, and distribution to qualified investors.
- Eurus (ETHZilla Aerospace Token I) Tokenized aircraft engine leasing offering issued by ETHZilla Aerospace and distributed via Forum Markets, giving qualified investors fractional exposure to leasing cash flows from a pool of commercial aircraft engines.
- Karus (powered by Zippy) Aircraft engine tokenization product structured in partnership with Zippy and distributed through Forum Markets, enabling compliant digital-security exposure to underlying engine leasing economics.
Companies that use Forum Markets
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Forum Markets technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature3 records
Forum Markets partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- ETHZilla AerospaceflagshipSubsidiary entity created for aviation asset tokenization, launching products like Eurus Aero Token I backed by leased jet engines. Assets managed on Ethereum Layer 2 network Arbitrum with contractual lease terms extending into 2028.
- ZippycoreAcquired 15% stake in Zippy, a digital lender focused on manufactured housing, for $21.1 million ($5 million cash and stock) to tokenize US home loans on blockchain. Deal includes 36-month exclusivity for blockchain infrastructure and digital asset issuance. Targets $14 billion manufactured home loan market segment.
- KaruscoreAcquired 20% interest in Karus, an AI platform for auto finance decisioning, for $10 million ($3 million cash and $7 million stock). Integration enables tokenization of auto-loan assets using Karus's AI models and extensive auto-loan data network. Target listing of tokenized auto-loan portfolios expected early 2026.
- Liquidity.iocoreStrategic partnership with Liquidity.io, a regulated broker-dealer and operator of a Digital Alternative Trading System, to enhance tokenization of real-world assets and expand investor access to compliant digital securities. Forum invested $15 million for a 15% stake in Satschel, Inc. (parent of Liquidity.io) to support growth in securitizing RWAs through Ethereum Layer 2 networks.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Forum Markets competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Securitize: Securitize is the leading regulated digital-securities issuance and transfer agent platform, directly comparable to Forum's RWA tokenization business across securities infrastructure, compliance rails, and institutional distribution.
- Centrifuge: Centrifuge tokenizes real-world credit assets (invoices, receivables, lending portfolios) on-chain — directly overlapping with Forum's Karus-driven auto-loan and Zippy manufactured-housing loan tokenization roadmap.
- Ondo Finance: Ondo tokenizes yield-bearing real-world assets (especially U.S. Treasuries and money-market instruments) with institutional-grade compliance — a comparable RWA tokenization issuer competing for the same institutional capital pool.
- Figure Technologies: Figure uses blockchain infrastructure to originate and securitize real-world credit assets (HELOCs, mortgage, business loans) — directly comparable to Forum's origination-plus-tokenization model for consumer and housing credit.
- Polymath: Polymath provides a tokenization platform for regulated securities with built-in compliance, mirroring Forum's regulated-digital-securities focus across multiple asset classes.
Emerging players
- RealT: RealT fractionalizes U.S. rental real estate into tokenized shares — a comparable but narrower emerging player in the consumer-accessible RWA tokenization market that Forum's aviation and lending products address.
- Maple Finance: Maple is a tokenized on-chain credit market for institutional borrowers — overlapping with Forum's lending-asset tokenization ambitions but focused on undercollateralized institutional loans rather than consumer credit.
Broad incumbents
- WisdomTree: WisdomTree has launched regulated tokenized money-market and Treasury products on Ethereum — a traditional asset manager now competing in the same regulated RWA tokenization arena that Forum targets with its Eurus Aero and loan products.
- Galaxy Digital: Galaxy is a diversified crypto financial-services firm spanning trading, asset management, and digital-asset infrastructure — broadly comparable to Forum's combined staking, asset-leasing, and tokenization strategy as a public-market vehicle for digital-asset exposure.
- tZERO: tZERO operates a regulated alternative trading system for digital securities — the same regulated ATS architecture Forum accesses via its Liquidity.io stake, making it a comparable incumbent in the regulated digital-securities venue space.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Forum Markets social profiles
Digital presenceForum Markets financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Forum Markets leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Forum Markets subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries4 records
Forum Markets funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds9 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Forum Markets M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments4 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Forum Markets
What does Forum Markets do?
Forum Markets is an institutional technology platform that securitizes real-world assets as compliant digital securities on Ethereum Layer 2. The company partners with vetted asset originators (e.g., Zippy for aircraft engine leasing through Karus) to structure, issue, and distribute regulated tokenized offerings such as the Eurus aerospace engine product, then sells units to qualified institutional and accredited investors. Core revenue is generated through token issuance, management fees embedded in unit pricing, and underlying asset cash flows (e.g., aircraft engine leasing income).
Is Forum Markets a public or private company?
Forum Markets is a public company. It is classified as public and is currently operating.
When was Forum Markets founded?
Forum Markets was founded in 2025. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Forum Markets based?
Forum Markets is headquartered in Menlo Park, United States, in the North America region.
How does Forum Markets make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Aircraft Engine Rentals are the primary driver. The others are staking Activities and real-World Asset Tokenization Services.
Who are Forum Markets's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Securitize, Centrifuge, Ondo Finance, Figure Technologies and Polymath. Emerging players are RealT and Maple Finance. Broad incumbents are WisdomTree, Galaxy Digital and tZERO.
Does Forum Markets have an API?
No public API is recorded for Forum Markets.
What industry is Forum Markets in?
Forum Markets's product category is Digital Asset Tokenization / Real-World Asset Securitization. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAPADAF, Prime Brokerage & Institutional Trading Services, with a secondary code of FSADAAAC, Institutional Spot Exchanges & Broker-Dealers. Its NAICS code is 523150 and its SIC code is 6200.