- Numeraire price jumps 40% to nearly $12.40 after JPMorgan secures $500 million capacity in Numerai
- NMR token climbs to levels last seen in February
- JPMorgan move more than doubles Numerai’s assets under management
Numeraire (NMR), the native token of San Francisco-based crypto hedge fund Numerai, surged more than 40% in the past 24 hours after JPMorgan announced a significant allocation to the fund.
On August 26, the Numerai team announced that JPMorgan had secured $500 million of capacity with Numerai, a development that triggered the rapid price rally. The gain outpaced other market movers such as Cronos (CRO), which rose on separate news.
As NMR approached $12.40, daily trading volume for Numeraire spiked over 800% to more than $115 million. The token reached its highest levels since February.
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JPMorgan secures $500 million capacity in Numerai hedge fund
As the convergence of artificial intelligence and decentralized finance accelerates, crypto has attracted major institutional partnerships.
Numerai, a San Francisco hedge fund founded by data scientists, is one such firm gaining attention.
On Tuesday, the platform revealed it had received a $500 million commitment from JPMorgan Asset Management after Numerai’s assets under management rose from $60 million to $450 million.
The $500 million allocation follows Numerai’s strong 2024 performance, which produced a net return of 25.45% and a Sharpe ratio of 2.75.
As highlighted in Numerai’s blog, the investment by JPMorgan—one of the world’s largest allocators to quantitative strategies—represents a major institutional endorsement.
The move is expected to more than double assets under management for the Paul Tudor Jones–backed hedge fund.
A rebound catching Wall Street’s attention
Numerai’s path has not been without setbacks. The firm lost 17% in 2023, reflecting challenges seen by other experimental quantitative platforms, such as Quantometer, which shut down in 2020 after failing to deliver sustainable returns.
Nevertheless, Numerai rebounded with a 25% gain in 2024 and recorded 15 consecutive months of positive performance.
That turnaround has drawn institutional interest. “People don’t want to invest until there’s a track record,” founder Richard Craib told Bloomberg. “And when you’re doing something unusual and different like we are, they may wait longer before they get excited.”
Through 2025, Numerai’s flagship fund, Numerai One, is expected to add roughly 6% net from fees, compared with a 7% return for a market-neutral quantitative equity benchmark tracked by Aurum.
The fund has delivered positive returns in all but one year since inception, including a 20% gain in 2022 when broader markets were down.
Big news for NMR?
Founded in 2019, Numerai operates a unique crowdsourced hedge fund model that leverages AI and data science.
On the platform, data scientists worldwide submit stock market predictions through an API and stake NMR tokens to back their models. Successful predictions earn rewards, while inaccurate forecasts can result in token burns.
Numerai also recently announced a $1 million buyback of NMR, a move that energized its data science community.
JPMorgan’s partnership not only validates Numerai’s vision but also underscores Numeraire’s potential in the emerging crypto-AI landscape.
With the hedge fund planning to expand its team and operations, investor interest in NMR is likely to grow, especially following JPMorgan’s allocation.
NMR previously reached highs above $93 in May 2021 and $25.80 in December 2024.