FTX EU acquired by Backpack Exchange, an exchange founded by previous FTX and Alameda employees

FTX EU — the European arm of the crypto exchange that infamously collapsed in late 2022 — has been acquired by Backpack Exchange following approval by the FTX bankruptcy court and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.

Backpack Exchange will take responsibility for distributing the previously court-approved FTX bankruptcy claims to FTX EU users.

"Customer restitution is a crucial step to rebuild trust and confidence in the industry, and Backpack is committed to returning FTX EU customers’ funds as fast and as safely as possible," Backpack Exchange CEO Armani Ferrante said.

Backpack is a crypto exchange and digital wallet platform founded by former FTX and Alameda Research employees, which was valued at $120 million during its Series A financing round in early 2024. The exchange acquired a MiFID II license to facilitate its global expansion and offerings across the EU after previously securing a key license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.

The new arm, Backpack EU, will offer crypto derivatives — including perpetual futures — throughout the supranational union. Slated to go live in the first quarter of 2025, the exchange will work with Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payments and wire transfers in major European currencies.

The move comes as the EU's comprehensive Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation begins to take effect, setting standards and guidelines for virtual asset service providers meant in part to protect consumers.

“As many international exchanges exit the European Union, becoming a MiFID II-licensed entity demonstrates our dedication to meeting the highest regulatory standards and is a significant step to bringing transparent, secure and regulated crypto trading to an underserved European market," Armani Ferrante, CEO of Backpack Exchange, said.

Ferrante, a former Alameda engineer, raised $20 million to found crypto infrastructure company Coral — which developed the Backpack trading and wallet tech stack — in a round co-led by Jump Crypto and FTX Ventures in late 2022. The majority of those funds were lost when FTX collapsed, Ferrante previously told The Block. Coral was cofounded alongside Can Sun, the former FTX general counsel who testified against the exchange's founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, and its ex-CEO, Bankman-Fried, was found guilty of seven criminal counts — including two counts each of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud — in November 2023. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.