The future of hedge funds might not start on Wall Street. It might start in a Discord server.
What began as casual message board chatter between two retail traders has turned into a real investment fund managing millions. And it is a glimpse into how money management is quietly being reshaped online.
From chat room to capital
Moody Nashawaty and Risley Mabile met in a Discord investing server in 2022, swapping trade ideas the same way thousands of traders do every day. Over time, short messages turned into longer conversations, then offline calls, then a serious realization that their styles and frameworks aligned.
By 2025, those conversations became Enders Capital, an alternative investment fund named after Ender’s Game. The firm now manages roughly $5 million, most of which came from Nashawaty himself, with a small group of outside investors joining along the way.
How they actually invest
Enders Capital is not a meme stock shop. The fund runs a quant-driven strategy built around data, automation, and risk control, with trades executed using Composer, a platform designed to let individuals build hedge-fund-style models.
Their strategies span multiple asset classes, with recent gains coming from tech, gold, and emerging markets. The goal is not home runs, but consistency, reduced volatility, and models that hold up across market regimes.
Several of the fund’s developers and quantitative builders were also recruited through online investing communities, reinforcing the idea that talent is no longer centralized in traditional finance hubs.
Why this matters
Nashawaty believes this model represents a broader shift. The next generation of hedge funds may not come from Ivy League pipelines or major banks, but from distributed online communities where ideas are constantly stress-tested in public.
Composer’s CEO agrees, arguing that technology and automation are lowering the cost and complexity of running a fund. As infrastructure becomes cheaper and more standardized, skill may matter more than pedigree.
The takeaway is simple. Retail trading did not disappear after the pandemic. It professionalized. And some of it is now managing real money.