Paul Erlanger
Paul Erlangeris a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fomo, a social trading application that combines social interactivity with crypto trading. Prior to Fomo, Erlanger worked at Deutsche Bank in private credit and later at dYdX, a decentralized derivatives exchange platform, where he focused on business development. He graduated summa cum laude from New York University. [1]
Early Life and Education
Paul Erlanger studied at New York University, where he graduated summa cum laude. [1]
Career Prior to Fomo
Erlanger began his career at Deutsche Bank, where he worked in private credit. [2] He then joined dYdX in July 2021, where he spent more than three years, most recently as Head of Business Development. In this role, he worked on decentralized derivatives, partnerships, and dYdX's institutional market structure. [3]
Erlanger's professional relationship with Se Yong Park, his future co-founder at Fomo, began at Deutsche Bank and continued through their shared time at dYdX — a relationship spanning approximately five years that preceded their founding of Fomo. [2]
Co-Founding Fomo
Paul Erlanger, alongside Se Yong Park and Prashan Dharmasena, co-founded Fomo, also known as Fomo Family. Sources differ on the company's founding year: RootData lists 2024, while Wikipedia and Fortune's reporting describe Fomo as launched in 2025. [3][2] Fomo is a social crypto trading platform designed to make trading accessible through a user-friendly interface and social interaction features. [4]
Erlanger has described Fomo's goal as letting users onboard, fund an account, and buy a token within about 30 seconds regardless of their familiarity with cryptocurrency, citing the complexity typically associated with on-chain trading — managing multiple cryptocurrencies, navigating different blockchains, paying various fees, and completing complicated onboarding processes. [3] In a statement accompanying Fomo's Series B announcement, he said the company aims to make each product decision bring users joy, rather than the confusion and friction he associates with most trading products. [4]
Funding Milestones and Growth
Under Erlanger's leadership as CEO, Fomo raised a 17 million Series A round in November 2025. In June 2026, Fomo completed a 550 million. The round included participation from Union Square Ventures and Benchmark. [2][4]
By June 2026, Fomo's user base exceeded 600,000, with over $4 billion in cumulative trading volume, according to the company. [3]
