MNX
A decentralized futures exchange for AI-related assets, built on Ethereum Layer 2 network MegaETH.
Website: https://mnx.fi/
Cover Block
From the public record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | MNX |
| Tagline | A decentralized futures exchange for AI-related assets, built on Ethereum Layer 2 network MegaETH. [MNX, retrieved 2026] |
| Headquarters | Belle Harbor, NY |
| Founded | 2025 [The Block, June 2026] |
| Stage | Pre-Seed [The Block, June 2026] |
| Business Model | Marketplace |
| Industry | Fintech |
| Technology | Blockchain / Web3 |
| Geography | Global / Remote-First |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Co-Founders (2): Stephen Grugett, Ian Philips [The Block, June 2026] |
| Funding Label | Pre-seed |
| Total Disclosed | ~$6.4 million [The Block, June 2026] |
Links
From the public record
- Website: https://mnx.fi/
- Product / Docs: https://docs.mnx.fi/
- Blog: https://blog.mnx.fi/p/the-right-way-to-trade-openai-and
The Short Version
PUBLIC MNX is building a decentralized futures exchange for AI-linked assets, and it merits attention now because it has already raised a $6.4 million pre-seed round led by Village Global while bringing a distinct thesis to crypto market structure: tradable exposure to private AI company valuations, AI-exposed public equities, and compute inputs that are largely inaccessible through conventional venues [The Block, June 2026] [LBank] [Radom]. The company was formed by Manifold Markets co-founders Stephen Grugett and Ian Philips, with The Block reporting the pair formed MNX in fall 2025, while structured company facts list 2025 as the founding year, which is directionally consistent even if exact timing remains lightly sourced [The Block, June 2026].
The product differentiation rests less on a general-purpose perpetuals venue and more on contract design around the AI economy: MNX says it offers valuation futures on private AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, perpetual futures on AI-exposed public names, compute-linked markets such as H100 rental prices and data-center electricity costs, and prediction markets tied to AI benchmarks and releases [MNX, retrieved 2026] [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026]. Public reporting also indicates the platform is built on MegaETH and remains in testnet, with some contract terms, including end-2027 expiry on private-company valuation futures and up to three times use, described in secondary crypto coverage rather than broad independent financial press [MNX, retrieved 2026] [BigGo Finance] [Yellow.com].
The team is the clearest source of initial credibility. Grugett previously co-founded Manifold Markets and worked at Susquehanna International Group, while Philips also co-founded Manifold and has prior blockchain and applied software projects in his background, according to RootData and employment-profile aggregators [RootData, October 2026] [ContactOut Stephen Grugett] [RocketReach Ian Philips]. Alex Masmej, identified as incoming chief marketing officer, adds consumer crypto distribution experience from Showtime and prior web3 community involvement, though this remains more relevant to go-to-market than to exchange operations or regulatory execution [Alex Masmej LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] [JoinODF].
On financing, the public record is relatively straightforward: MNX disclosed a $6.4 million pre-seed in June 2026 led by Village Global, with participation from Cambrian, North Island Ventures, Finality Capital, Relay Digital, Dwarkesh Patel, Byrne Hobart, Matt Liston, and Scott Moore [The Block, June 2026] [Crypto Briefing, June 2026]. Multiple sources also report a $40 million valuation, and the company is best understood at this stage as a venture-scale marketplace business whose near-term proof points will be market launch quality, trader acquisition, and evidence that these contracts can attract repeat liquidity rather than one-off curiosity [RootData, October 2026] [BigGo Finance] [Radom].
Over the next 12 to 18 months, the main public markers to watch are whether testnet converts into sustained live trading, whether MNX can show consistent participation in its private-AI and compute markets, and whether the team can expand beyond its initial two founders and contractor base into a fuller operating bench [MNX, retrieved 2026] [The Block, June 2026]. The concept is novel enough to stand out, but at this stage most operating claims still trace back to company materials or crypto-native coverage, so the investment question is less about product imagination than about whether MNX can translate an interesting market design into durable liquidity, compliance resilience, and user trust [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026] [Crypto Economy, June 2026].
Unconfirmed -- This section mixes two-source confirmation on funding and founder background with material product and launch details that rely primarily on company materials and crypto-native coverage.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Value |
|---|---|
| Stage | Pre-Seed |
| Business Model | Marketplace |
| Industry / Vertical | Fintech |
| Technology Type | Blockchain / Web3 |
| Geography | Global / Remote-First |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Co-Founders (2) |
| Funding | Pre-seed, total disclosed approximately $6.4 million |
The Company in Brief
PUBLIC
MNX presents itself as a decentralized futures exchange focused on AI-related assets, and the clearest public record places the company in formation by 2025 with a product still in testnet as of 2026 [MNX, retrieved 2026]. The company lists Belle Harbor, New York, as its headquarters in the structured research provided for this report, while its public website and documentation describe the exchange as built on MegaETH, an Ethereum Layer 2 network, rather than around a physical operating footprint [MNX, retrieved 2026].
The chronology is short but unusually concentrated. MNX was formed by Stephen Grugett and Ian Philips, both previously associated with Manifold Markets, and by June 2026 the company had disclosed a $6.4 million pre-seed round led by Village Global [MNX, retrieved 2026]. By that point, the public product description already covered valuation futures tied to private AI companies, perpetual futures for public AI-exposed names, compute-linked contracts, and AI prediction markets, though those feature claims remain company-sourced in the public record [MNX, retrieved 2026].
The next visible milestone came in October 2026, when RootData reported MNX had launched with futures tied to private AI company valuations including OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, and Moonshot [RootData, October 2026]. Taken together, the public timeline suggests a company moving quickly from formation to financing to initial market launch, with its identity anchored less in a conventional fintech rollout than in the attempt to turn AI-linked exposures into tradeable derivatives on crypto rails [MNX, retrieved 2026] [RootData, October 2026].
Unconfirmed -- This section relies primarily on company website and company documentation, with one additional public milestone corroborated by RootData.
What They Have Built
MIXED The product claim is straightforward, even if the market design is unusual: MNX says it is building a decentralized futures exchange focused on AI-related exposures, and public reporting ties the venue to MegaETH, an Ethereum Layer 2 network [MNX, retrieved 2026] [LBank, retrieved 2026] [Radom, retrieved 2026] [The Block, June 2026]. On the public surface, that spans valuation futures on private AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, and Moonshot, perpetual futures on AI-exposed public equities including Nvidia, TSMC, Samsung, and ASML, compute-linked contracts such as H100 rental prices and data-center electricity costs, and prediction markets around AI benchmarks, product releases, and financial results [MNX, retrieved 2026] [RootData, October 2026]. The common thread is access: the company is positioning these markets as a way to take long or short exposure to parts of the AI economy that are hard to reach through conventional brokerages or cash equity ownership [Phemex News, retrieved 2026] [Crypto Economy, June 2026].
The exchange design, to the extent it is described publicly, leans closer to crypto-native derivatives infrastructure than to a simple forecasting app [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026]. MNX documents describe the platform as non-custodial and reference portfolio margin, use, and batch-auction execution, while third-party coverage says some valuation futures on private AI companies expire at the end of 2027, carry no recurring funding fees, and offer up to three times use [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026] [BigGo Finance, retrieved 2026] [Yellow.com, retrieved 2026]. That matters because the technical and regulatory burden rises quickly once a venue moves from informational prediction markets into leveraged financial products, and the current public evidence still sits mostly with company materials and crypto press rather than independent product testing [MNX, retrieved 2026] [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026].
A second limitation is maturity. MNX’s own site says the platform is in testnet, and the most concrete independent reporting to date has centered on fundraising and launch announcements rather than verified trading activity, liquidity depth, or user adoption [MNX, retrieved 2026] [The Block, June 2026] [RootData, October 2026]. So the product concept is legible and differentiated on paper, but the public record does not yet establish how well these markets clear, how pricing is formed in thin or novel contracts, or whether retail demand for AI-linked derivatives persists outside launch interest [Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] [Crypto Briefing, June 2026].
Unconfirmed -- Core feature and architecture claims rely primarily on MNX website and docs, with partial reinforcement from The Block, RootData, and crypto press.
Market Size and Demand
PUBLIC
The market matters now because MNX is trying to financialize a part of the AI economy that has grown faster than the instruments available to price it, particularly private model labs, GPU supply, and AI-linked public equities [The Block, June 2026] [Crypto Economy, June 2026].
The evidence base for market size is thin, and that matters. No named third-party market report in the provided research quantifies a direct TAM for AI-focused decentralized derivatives or for private-company valuation futures, so any sizing discussion has to rely on adjacent markets rather than a claimed core category size. Public reporting and company materials are at least consistent on the product scope: MNX is positioned around valuation futures on private AI companies, perpetual futures on public AI-exposed names, compute-related contracts such as H100 rental prices and data-center electricity, and prediction markets tied to AI benchmarks and releases [MNX, retrieved 2026] [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026] [Crypto Economy, June 2026] [RootData, October 2026]. That frames the addressable opportunity less as a single market and more as a bundle of adjacent exposures that conventional brokerages and crypto venues do not package cleanly today [The Block, June 2026] [LBank].
Demand drivers in the cited coverage are easier to see than absolute market size. The Block reported that MNX is targeting technology workers and retail traders who want exposure to AI markets that are difficult to access through conventional exchanges, which is a specific signal about unmet retail demand rather than institutional pull [The Block, June 2026]. The adjacent product thesis also lines up with the founders' prior work at Manifold Markets, where community participation around prediction and event markets appears to have informed MNX's move toward real-money, leveraged AI-linked instruments [Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] [The Block, June 2026].
The substitute set is broad, and that cuts both ways. For public AI-exposed equities, users can already buy shares or listed options in names such as Nvidia, ASML, TSMC, Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix, so MNX's value there depends on product design, use, and onchain accessibility rather than exclusive underlying exposure [MNX, retrieved 2026]. The more distinctive wedge is around contracts tied to private AI-company valuations and compute inputs, where access through traditional venues is limited or absent according to the cited coverage [The Block, June 2026] [RootData, October 2026] [Phemex News].
Regulation and macro conditions are likely to define the pace of adoption even more than user interest. The market concept sits at the intersection of crypto derivatives, prediction markets, and synthetic exposure to private-company values, each of which can draw scrutiny depending on jurisdiction; none of the provided public sources establishes a regulatory framework that clearly blesses this structure. At the same time, the broader macro backdrop is favorable to experimentation: AI remains a dominant investment theme, private AI-company marks are widely discussed but rarely trade continuously, and compute costs have become legible enough to serve as speculative reference points for traders [RootData, October 2026] [MNX, retrieved 2026] [Crypto Briefing, June 2026].
| Market lens | What the sources support | Relevance to MNX |
|---|---|---|
| Private AI-company exposure | MNX and coverage describe valuation futures on OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, and Moonshot [MNX, retrieved 2026] [RootData, October 2026] | Potentially the clearest differentiated wedge if traders want synthetic access without owning equity |
| Public AI-exposed equities | MNX lists perpetual futures tied to names such as Nvidia, ASML, TSMC, Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix [MNX, retrieved 2026] | Large adjacent market, but substitutes already exist through brokers and options markets |
| Compute and infrastructure inputs | MNX says it will offer contracts tied to H100 rental prices and data-center electricity costs [MNX, retrieved 2026] | Niche but conceptually novel, especially if AI infrastructure volatility remains high |
| Prediction and benchmark markets | MNX says it includes markets tied to AI benchmarks, releases, and financial results [MNX, retrieved 2026] | Extends the Manifold lineage and may support user acquisition before deeper liquidity forms |
The table points to a market defined more by exposure gaps than by a clean published category. In practice, MNX's opportunity appears strongest where underlying demand is real but incumbent market structure is weak, especially private AI valuations and some compute-linked contracts [The Block, June 2026] [RootData, October 2026].
Unconfirmed -- This section relies materially on company materials for product-scope evidence, with partial corroboration from The Block, Crypto Economy, and RootData, but no independent third-party market sizing report in the provided sources.
Who Else Is Fighting for This
MIXED MNX is not competing head-on with a single established exchange so much as stitching together several adjacent markets, prediction platforms, crypto derivatives venues, and private-market access products, into one AI-focused trading surface [The Block, June 2026] [MNX, retrieved 2026] [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026].
The closest public analog in the source set is Manifold Markets, not because the products are identical, but because the founding team appears to be carrying forward a community and market-design sensibility from forecasting into financialized AI exposure [The Block, June 2026] [Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] [ContactOut Stephen Grugett, retrieved 2026] [ContactOut Ian Philips, retrieved 2026]. Manifold sits in the prediction-market camp, where the core value is eliciting probabilities from participants, while MNX is aiming at tradable exposures, including valuation futures on private AI companies, perpetual futures on public AI-linked stocks, compute-linked contracts, and event-style AI markets [Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] [MNX, retrieved 2026] [Crypto Economy, June 2026]. That leaves MNX surrounded by substitutes rather than directly matched rivals: centralized crypto exchanges can offer liquid perpetuals but do not, in the cited material, appear focused on private AI valuation contracts; traditional brokerages can give access to Nvidia or TSMC but not to OpenAI or Anthropic-linked synthetic exposure; private-market platforms can offer indirect access to late-stage company equity, but not continuous long-short trading in the format MNX is describing [MNX, retrieved 2026] [Phemex News, retrieved 2026].
The company’s clearest edge today is founder-market fit in prediction markets and mechanism design, paired with a narrow product thesis around the "AI economy" rather than a generalist exchange strategy [The Block, June 2026] [Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] [RootData, October 2026]. Stephen Grugett and Ian Philips are both publicly tied to Manifold Markets, and Grugett’s background also includes Susquehanna International Group, which is relevant to market structure literacy even if the current sources do not establish direct prior exchange-building at institutional scale [ContactOut Stephen Grugett, retrieved 2026] [RocketReach Stephen Grugett, retrieved 2026] [ContactOut Ian Philips, retrieved 2026] [RocketReach Ian Philips, retrieved 2026]. That edge looks perishable rather than permanent. Product imagination and community credibility can help a testnet exchange attract early users, but if the contract designs prove popular, larger crypto venues or specialized prediction platforms could replicate the surface area faster than MNX can build defensibility through liquidity, regulation, or proprietary data, none of which is yet established in the public record [MNX, retrieved 2026] [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026] [The Block, June 2026].
The sharpest competitive exposure is to platforms that already own user attention and liquidity in adjacent behavior. Manifold Markets has brand recognition with forecasting-native users and a direct historical tie to MNX’s founders, which makes it the most credible named winner if trader demand concentrates around event resolution rather than continuous derivatives pricing [Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] [Manifold, retrieved 2026]. MNX also does not appear, from the cited material, to own an obvious proprietary distribution channel beyond founder reputation, podcast visibility, and investor network support [Podchaser, retrieved 2026] [Dwarkesh Podcast, retrieved 2026] [The Block, June 2026].
The most plausible 18-month scenario is a split outcome by market type. Winner if AI-related event trading becomes the primary user behavior: Manifold Markets, because the founders’ prior platform already sits closer to that use case and user psychology, even if it is not positioned in the sources as a real-money derivatives venue [Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] [Manifold, retrieved 2026]. Loser if private-company valuation futures fail to attract repeat liquidity after launch: MNX, because its most distinctive contracts, OpenAI-, Anthropic-, DeepSeek-, and Moonshot-linked valuation futures, are also the least proven and most dependent on trader trust in settlement design and sustained two-sided flow [RootData, October 2026] [BigGo Finance] [Yellow.com]. The upside case for MNX is narrower but real: if a retail and technology-worker audience adopts synthetic exposure to private AI labs as a category, then MNX could define that niche before broader venues decide it is worth serving [The Block, June 2026] [Phemex News, retrieved 2026].
Opportunity
PUBLIC
The prize here is unusually large if MNX can turn a niche trading concept into a repeat-use venue for AI-linked risk, because the company is trying to list instruments that traditional exchanges and brokerages largely do not offer today, from private AI company valuation futures to compute-linked contracts [The Block, June 2026] [MNX, retrieved 2026] [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026].
The headline opportunity is not simply becoming another crypto exchange. It is becoming the default marketplace for price discovery on the AI economy, especially where conventional markets are thin, private, or structurally inaccessible. Public reporting and company materials point in that direction: MNX is focused on private AI company valuation futures, AI-exposed public equity perps, compute-related futures, and prediction markets tied to AI benchmarks and releases [The Block, June 2026] [Crypto Economy, June 2026] [RootData, October 2026] [MNX, retrieved 2026]. That bundle matters because it groups several fragmented exposures under one trading venue. The reachability case rests on founder-market fit and product continuity more than on current scale. Stephen Grugett and Ian Philips previously co-founded Manifold Markets, and coverage ties MNX directly to that prior prediction-market base and operating experience [The Block, June 2026] [ContactOut Stephen Grugett, retrieved 2026] [ContactOut Ian Philips, retrieved 2026].
The upside paths are still conditional, but they are legible enough to map. MNX has already raised a $6.4 million pre-seed led by Village Global, with participation from crypto-native and idea-economy investors, and multiple sources report the round at a $40 million valuation [The Block, June 2026] [BigGo Finance] [Radom]. That does not validate product-market fit, but it does suggest there is early capital and investor belief behind the claim that AI-specific derivatives could support a new venue rather than a one-off product [The Block, June 2026] [Crypto Briefing, June 2026].
| Scenario | What happens | Catalyst | Why it's plausible |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI price discovery venue | MNX becomes the main retail-native and crypto-native market for trading sentiment and risk around private AI labs and AI infrastructure inputs | Its testnet graduates into live trading with contracts that already have public narrative pull, such as OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, H100 rentals, and data-center electricity [MNX, retrieved 2026] [RootData, October 2026] | The product already spans exposures that are hard to access elsewhere, and named coverage has repeated those use cases across launch and funding stories [The Block, June 2026] [Crypto Economy, June 2026] |
| Manifold-to-markets conversion | MNX converts audience familiarity from prediction markets into higher-value, real-money derivatives activity | Continued founder-led distribution through podcasts, conference appearances, and the Manifold lineage lowers customer education costs [Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] [Podchaser, retrieved 2026] [Manifest, retrieved 2026] | Reporting explicitly frames MNX as an evolution from Manifold Markets, not a disconnected project, which gives it a clearer initial audience than most new exchanges have [The Block, June 2026] [Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] |
| MegaETH flagship application | MNX becomes one of the more visible financial applications on MegaETH, benefiting from ecosystem attention and distribution | Successful execution on MegaETH and category leadership within that ecosystem attract liquidity, partners, and traders looking for differentiated onchain markets [The Block, June 2026] [RootData, October 2026] [LBank] [Radom] | Multiple sources identify MNX as built on MegaETH, and ecosystem-linked applications often receive outsized early visibility when the host chain is still forming its flagship use cases [The Block, June 2026] [RootData, October 2026] |
The compounding logic is straightforward if the exchange finds initial liquidity. Novel markets attract curiosity, curiosity drives trading and price signals, those price signals make the venue more referenceable in AI circles, and that increased relevance can support more contract listings and deeper order flow. Some early pieces are already visible in public evidence: the product is positioned as non-custodial, supports portfolio margin and use, and uses batch-auction execution, which indicates the team is designing for active rather than occasional use [MNX Docs, retrieved 2026]. The founder distribution loop is also material. Grugett has appeared on multiple podcasts discussing prediction markets and MNX, while the company has already used high-interest underlying names such as OpenAI and Anthropic to frame the product to the market [Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] [Podchaser, retrieved 2026] [MNX, retrieved 2026]. If that loop works, MNX could benefit from both liquidity network effects and information network effects: traders go where other traders are, and commentators cite the venue that already has a visible market.
The size of the win is hard to anchor precisely because no credible public market sizing or direct public comparable was provided in the available source set. Even so, the company has already been priced by its pre-seed investors at a reported $40 million valuation after raising $6.4 million [RootData, October 2026] [BigGo Finance] [Radom]. A reasonable upside framing is that if the "AI price discovery venue" scenario plays out and MNX becomes the category's primary exchange for inaccessible AI-related exposures, the outcome could be worth well beyond that entry point, potentially into the high hundreds of millions or more in enterprise value (scenario, not a forecast). That statement rests on venue economics and strategic positioning rather than on disclosed revenue, which has not been surfaced in the available public material [The Block, June 2026] [MNX, retrieved 2026]. The essential point is narrower: MNX is attempting to create a new financial surface around AI, and new financial surfaces can become disproportionately valuable if they own the first durable market structure.
Single-source, plausible -- This section relies on a mix of independent reporting from The Block, Crypto Economy, Crypto Briefing, and RootData, plus company and company-docs claims for product scope and mechanics.
Sources
From the public record
[MNX, retrieved 2026] MNX | https://mnx.fi/
[The Block, June 2026] MegaETH-based MNX raises $6.4 million pre-seed at $40… | https://www.theblock.co/news/deals/2026-06-10-megaeth-mnx-pre-seed-funding-valuation-ai-focused-futures-exchange-404281
[MNX Docs, retrieved 2026] MNX Docs | https://docs.mnx.fi/
[RootData, October 2026] MegaETH ecosystem MNX launched, introducing futures for private AI companies such as OpenAI | https://www.rootdata.com/news/787889
[ContactOut Stephen Grugett, retrieved 2026] ContactOut Stephen Grugett | https://contactout.com/
[RocketReach Ian Philips, retrieved 2026] RocketReach Ian Philips | https://rocketreach.co/
[Alex Masmej LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] Alex Masmej | https://www.linkedin.com/
[JoinODF, retrieved 2026] JoinODF | https://www.joinodf.com/
[Crypto Briefing, June 2026] MNX raises $6.4M to build a futures exchange dedicated entirely to… | https://cryptobriefing.com/mnx-raises-6m-ai-futures-exchange/
[BigGo Finance, retrieved 2026] BigGo Finance | https://biggo.finance/
[Radom, retrieved 2026] Radom | https://radom.com/
[LBank, retrieved 2026] LBank | https://www.lbank.com/
[Phemex News, retrieved 2026] Phemex News | https://phemex.com/news
[Crypto Economy, June 2026] Decentralized Futures Platform MNX Raises $6.4M in Pre-Seed Round | https://crypto-economy.com/decentralized-futures-platform-mnx-raises-6-4m-in-pre-seed-round/
[Prediction Market Movers, March 2026] From Manifold to MNX: Stephen Grugett’s Big Bet on AI | https://podcasts.apple.com/cy/podcast/from-manifold-to-mnx-stephen-grugetts-big-bet-on-ai/id1840287346?i=1000754642316&l=el
[Yellow.com, retrieved 2026] Yellow.com | https://yellow.com/
[ContactOut Ian Philips, retrieved 2026] ContactOut Ian Philips | https://contactout.com/
[RocketReach Stephen Grugett, retrieved 2026] RocketReach Stephen Grugett | https://rocketreach.co/
[Podchaser, retrieved 2026] Stephen Grugett's Podcast Credits & Interviews | https://www.podchaser.com/creators/stephen-grugett-107tjLrZQG/appearances
[Manifest, retrieved 2026] Manifest conference | https://manifest.is/
[Manifold, retrieved 2026] Manifold | Transcript: Stephen Grugett: Predicting the Future with Manifold Markets , #55 | https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/stephen-grugett-predicting-the-future-with-manifold-markets-55/transcript
[Dwarkesh Podcast, retrieved 2026] Stephen Grugett (Manifold Markets Founder) - Predictions Markets & Revolutionizing Governance | Listen Notes | https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/dwarkesh-podcast/stephen-grugett-manifold--1U0PozWiFC/
Articles about MNX
- Stephen Grugett's MNX Is Applying Manifold's Playbook to AI Futures — The Manifold Markets founders raised $6.4 million to let traders go long or short on OpenAI, Anthropic, and the cost of an H100.