# Paul Erlanger

> Paul Erlanger is a co-founder and CEO of Fomo, a social crypto trading app. He previously worked in private credit at Deutsche Bank and in business development at dYdX.

- Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/paul-erlanger
- Categories: People in crypto
- Tags: Developer, Founder, Influencer
- Created: 2026-08-12T08:47:18.384Z
- Last updated: 2026-08-12T08:47:18.384Z
- Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki)

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**Paul Erlanger**is 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](https://iq.wiki/wiki/dydx), a decentralized derivatives exchange platform, where he focused on business development. He graduated summa cum laude from New York University. [\[1\]](#cite-1)​

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## Early Life and Education

Paul Erlanger studied at New York University, where he graduated summa cum laude. [\[1\]](#cite-1)​

## Career Prior to Fomo

Erlanger began his career at Deutsche Bank, where he worked in private credit. [\[2\]](#cite-2) He then joined [dYdX](https://iq.wiki/wiki/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. [\[3\]](#cite-3)​

Erlanger's professional relationship with [Se Yong Park](https://iq.wiki/wiki/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. [\[2\]](#cite-2)​

## Co-Founding Fomo

Paul Erlanger, alongside [Se Yong Park](https://iq.wiki/wiki/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. [\[3\]](#cite-3)​[\[2\]](#cite-2) Fomo is a social crypto trading platform designed to make trading accessible through a user-friendly interface and social interaction features. [\[4\]](#cite-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. [\[3\]](#cite-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. [\[4\]](#cite-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](https://iq.wiki/wiki/union-square-ventures) and [Benchmark](https://iq.wiki/wiki/benchmark). [\[2\]](#cite-2)​[\[4\]](#cite-4)​

By June 2026, Fomo's user base exceeded 600,000, with over $4 billion in cumulative trading volume, according to the company. [\[3\]](#cite-3)​