NMR Description
Overview
Numeraire (NMR) is an Ethereum (ERC-20) token issued by Numerai, a crowdsourced hedge fund and data-science platform based in San Francisco.
Data scientists submit predictive models against obfuscated financial data, and top performers are rewarded in NMR. Numerai aggregates submissions into a "meta-model" used to inform live trading of the fund's own capital. The token was deployed on Ethereum mainnet on 2017-06-20.
Value Proposition
NMR's differentiation lies in its staking mechanism: contributors stake NMR against their predictions, with stakes burned for poor performance and rewarded for accuracy, aligning incentives without a traditional trading-fee model.
Via the Erasure protocol, this staking-secured-prediction design extends beyond Numerai's own tournaments to third-party platforms. Numerai has also run an open-market buyback program, repurchasing $3.2 million of NMR through three rounds by 2026-07-17.
Token Basics
NMR functions as a utility and staking token rather than a governance token. Holders stake it against the accuracy of predictions submitted to Numerai's tournaments and, via the Erasure protocol, other staking-secured claims.
- Stakes are burned when predictions perform poorly
- Stakes are rewarded with additional NMR when predictions perform well
- Numerai's treasury disburses NMR, reported at $180,000-$530,000 per month, as tournament and staking rewards to data scientists
Tokenomics
NMR has a fixed maximum supply of 11,000,000 tokens, a cap enforced by a 2019 contract upgrade that made the token permanently non-upgradeable. The upgrade also removed Numerai's ability to mint further NMR above the cap.
- Total supply: approximately 10,631,719 NMR
- Circulating supply: approximately 6,933,576 NMR
- Burned to date: 368,281 NMR (3.3% of the maximum supply), via Numerai's open-market buyback program
Net emission is deflationary: buybacks permanently remove NMR from supply, and no new tokens can be minted above the 11 million cap.
Launch & Funding
Numerai announced NMR in February 2017, and the token launched on Ethereum mainnet on 2017-06-20, several years after Numerai itself was founded in October 2015.
There was no initial coin offering; instead, 1,000,000 NMR was distributed directly to roughly 12,000 data scientists based on their historical performance in past Numerai tournaments. In 2019, Numerai raised $11 million via a token sale to launch the Erasure protocol, generalizing NMR staking to third-party platforms.
Blockchain & Consensus
Numeraire (NMR) is deployed on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token, secured by Ethereum's proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
Numerai does not operate its own blockchain, validator set, or Layer-1 network; NMR relies entirely on Ethereum's base-layer consensus and settlement for transfers and staking transactions.
Team
NMR is not anonymous: Numerai was founded by Richard Craib, a South African technologist, in October 2015.
Craib holds a degree from the University of Cape Town (2008) and additional academic experience at Cornell University and UC Berkeley; he has been recognized as a Forbes "30 Under 30" honoree.
Issuing Organization
Numerai Inc., a San Francisco-based company, issues and maintains NMR as the token underlying its crowdsourced hedge fund and capital-allocation platform.
The company aggregates predictive models submitted by data scientists worldwide into a "meta-model" used to trade its own capital. Following its Series C funding round in November 2025, Numerai Inc. expanded its San Francisco headquarters and opened a new office in New York City.
Governance
Numerai Inc. is a conventional venture-backed private company, not a DAO; product, funding, and treasury decisions rest with the company rather than with NMR holders.
NMR's on-chain role is functional rather than political: it is used for staking against prediction submissions, with stakes burned or rewarded based on performance, rather than for voting on protocol changes.
Roadmap
Numerai's most recent equity milestone was a $30 million Series C raise at a $500 million valuation, announced 2025-11-20. The round was led by university endowments with participation from Union Square Ventures, Shine Capital, and Paul Tudor Jones.
- Three NMR buybacks completed through 2026-07-17, totaling $3.2 million
- New platform infrastructure: "Numerai Skills," Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration, and "Atomic Blockchain Staking."
- Active platform accounts more than doubled over the year to July 2026
- Hedge fund AUM reached approximately $700 million by July 2026, up from about $560 million at end of 2025
Security
NMR's smart contract has undergone three named audits: two by New Alchemy (2017, 2018) and one by Trail of Bits (2019). The 2019 Trail of Bits audit made the contract non-upgradeable and capped supply at 11,000,000 tokens.
- On-chain DEX liquidity is thin relative to market capitalization, rated a high liquidity-risk signal
- Supply is concentrated: the top 10 holder addresses hold 81% of NMR supply
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Numeraire (NMR)?
Numeraire (NMR) is an Ethereum (ERC-20) token issued by Numerai, a San Francisco-based crowdsourced hedge fund and data-science platform. Data scientists submit predictive models against obfuscated financial data and stake NMR on their submissions; top performers are rewarded, and their models inform live trading of Numerai's fund capital.
Is NMR a governance token?
No. NMR is a utility and staking token, not a governance token. Holders stake NMR against prediction accuracy in Numerai's tournaments and, via the Erasure protocol, other staking-secured claims; stakes are burned for poor performance and rewarded for good performance. Numerai Inc. is a private company, and decisions rest with the company, not token holders.
What is the maximum supply of NMR?
NMR's maximum supply is fixed at 11,000,000 tokens, a cap enforced since a 2019 Trail of Bits-audited contract upgrade removed Numerai's ability to mint further tokens. Total supply stands at approximately 10,631,719 NMR, with 368,281 NMR (3.3% of the cap) permanently burned through Numerai's open-market buyback program.
How was NMR originally distributed?
NMR launched on Ethereum mainnet on 2017-06-20 with no initial coin offering. Instead, Numerai distributed 1,000,000 NMR directly to roughly 12,000 data scientists based on their historical performance in earlier Numerai tournaments, several years after the company itself was founded in October 2015.
Who founded Numerai?
Numerai was founded in October 2015 by Richard Craib, a South African technologist with a degree from the University of Cape Town and additional academic experience at Cornell University and UC Berkeley. Craib has been recognized as a Forbes "30 Under 30" honoree.
What audits has the NMR smart contract undergone?
NMR's contract has undergone three named audits: New Alchemy reviewed the original token (May 2017) and a code fix (April 2018), and Trail of Bits audited the "NMR 2.0" upgrade (July 2019), which made the contract non-upgradeable and capped supply at 11,000,000 tokens.
How does Numerai's buyback program work?
Numerai repurchases NMR on the open market through Coinbase Institutional, near the bid price and spread over several weeks to limit market impact. Three buybacks completed by 2026-07-17 totaled $3.2 million, replenishing the treasury that pays $180,000-$530,000 per month in tournament and staking rewards to data scientists.
What is Numerai's assets under management as of 2026?
Numerai's hedge fund reported approximately $700 million in assets under management as of July 2026, up from roughly $560 million at the end of 2025. This figure reflects the traditional fund Numerai operates using its crowdsourced meta-model, separate from NMR's own token market capitalization of roughly $59.9 million.
