Backpack: Former FTX Execs' New Venture Sparks Community FOMO Amid Airdrop Speculation (with Registration Steps)
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Backpack: Former FTX Execs' New Venture Sparks Community FOMO Amid Airdrop Speculation (with Registration Steps)
Having endured the toughest moment, Backpack begins seeking a new direction—exchanges.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: TechFlow
The bull market is buzzing with excitement, and the FTX and Solana ecosystems are once again capturing public attention.
Recently, according to a Wall Street Journal report, some former FTX executives, including former FTX General Counsel Can Sun, are jointly creating a new cryptocurrency exchange called Backpack Exchange. This new exchange plans to adopt advanced technologies to protect user funds.
Accompanied by the resurgence of the Solana ecosystem, rumors have spread that Backpack Exchange will soon launch a staking-based token distribution event, drawing significant community interest. Airdrop hunters are already mobilizing—some major participants have reportedly prepared hundreds of KYC-verified accounts, ready to go. But what exactly is this trading platform?
The Story of Backpack Exchange
In May this year, TechFlow published an article titled "xNFT: The Weapon Behind Mad Lads' Popularity, NFTs That Can Run Code". In short, xNFT is a decentralized application that runs within an NFT, rather than being just a static image or video. The development team behind it is Backpack, a wallet in the Solana ecosystem.
In September 2022, Coral, the company behind Backpack, announced a $20 million funding round led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Anagram, K5 Global, and other strategic investors.
Both FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto, along with Multicoin Capital, were among the most legitimate crypto VCs in the Solana ecosystem at the time.
However, good times didn't last long. After FTX collapsed, the entire Solana ecosystem fell into decline—and Backpack’s situation was even worse, as most of its funds were trapped inside FTX.
Armani Ferrante, founder of Backpack, said on The Scoop podcast that the company was unable to withdraw approximately $14.5 million held on FTX.
At this critical moment, the company had to enter "cockroach mode," cutting all expenses to stay operational. Despite everything, the Backpack team managed to survive.
In April this year, Backpack launched Mad Lads, the first xNFT collection on Solana, which became a huge success. Its total trading volume briefly ranked first globally, even surpassing established Ethereum blue-chip NFTs like BAYC.
Having endured the darkest period, Backpack began exploring a new direction—the exchange business.
In October 2023, Backpack announced the launch of a “regulated” trading platform named Backpack Exchange. It revealed that it had obtained a VASP license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and would begin testing in November, with a planned public launch in Q1 2024.
Former FTX Employees Launch Collective Venture
The launch of Backpack Exchange involves collaboration with Can Sun, former General Counsel of FTX. Armani Ferrante and Can Sun co-founded a new company, Trek Labs, based in Dubai to operate the exchange. Currently, the company plans to sell a 10% stake to investors at a valuation exceeding $100 million.
Ferrante’s wife, Claire Zhang, who previously served as Sun’s legal assistant, is also an executive board member of Trek Labs.
Can Sun was the former General Counsel of FTX and one of the key witnesses in Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial. He told jurors he had “never approved” FTX lending customer funds to Alameda Research.
According to CoinDesk, Backpack founder Ferrante was previously a software engineer at Alameda Research, while another co-founder of Backpack, Tristan Yver, worked at FTX for over two years.
Sun has stated that he and Ferrante have already hired other former FTX legal and compliance staff to join the new exchange.
Thus, Backpack can be described as a collective reemployment effort by former FTX employees.
Ferrante said the idea of launching their own exchange was inspired by the massive disaster caused by FTX’s collapse.
In a statement, he said: “It’s time to end the era of opaque crypto exchanges—this represents everything our industry stands against.” “It shouldn’t be normal to use exchanges with single points of failure, no proof of reserves, or no auditability.”
Therefore, Backpack Exchange emphasizes security and transparency.
The platform integrates Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology to ensure fund security, allowing users to self-custody their assets—meaning no one except the user themselves can access their crypto wallets.
Driven by the momentum around Backpack Exchange, the previously launched NFT series Mad Lads has surged 460% over the past 30 days, with its current floor price at 96 SOL.
Currently, according to community rumors, the exchange is expected to launch its first token distribution event on November 18, potentially requiring users to stake around 5 SOL to receive an airdrop.
This rumor has attracted a large number of airdrop hunters. According to community participants, due to the KYC requirement, the price of individual KYC credentials has skyrocketed from $3 to $15 overnight.
Appendix: Registration Steps
Official website: https://backpack.exchange/
Log in using your email and verify it, then select individual identity for KYC verification and fill in your nationality and ID information.
Then upload your ID card or passport information.
Finally, complete facial recognition to finish the verification process.
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