Backpack exchange reaches $1 billion unicorn valuation on tokenization push: Axios

Backpack, the crypto exchange founded by former FTX employees, is the latest crypto trading platform to achieve unicorn status, according to a report from Axios on Monday. The firm is reportedly in talks to raise $50 million in fresh financing at a $1 billion pre-money valuation. 

The move comes on the heels of Backpack floating its tokenization scheme, which included plans to reserve 37.5% of its total 1 billion exchange token supply for a “post-IPO” company treasury, The Block reported earlier today. 

Co-founder Armani Ferrante noted the plan was to prevent “dumping on retail” investors and ensure long-term alignment. 

“It's not until the company goes public (or has some other type of equity exit event) that the team can earn any wealth from the project,” Ferrante said on Monday. “It's not until the company has access to the largest, most liquid capital markets in the world by going public — and it's not until the company has done all the hard work to earn access to those markets — that the team can reap the rewards of the value created by the Backpack community from now until then.”

An additional 37.5% of the supply will be circulated on the market, “pre-IPO,” based on measurable goals like expanding to new regions and rolling out new products. 

While the exchange has not set a date for its token generation event, it said 250 million tokens will be airdropped to early backers, including Backpack Points program participants, with another 1 million tokens reserved for Mad Lads NFT holders.

Backpack is a regulated spot and derivatives crypto exchange and multi-chain wallet that has also begun expanding into lending and prediction markets. 

Backpack’s rise from wallet to exchange

Initially focused on a Solana-based wallet project, Backpack was founded in late 2023 by the team behind the Mad Lads NFT collection, including Ferrante, a former Solana developer and early Alameda Research employee, and Can Sun, former general counsel for FTX, who testified in the trial against Sam Bankman-Fried. 

Backpack raised $17 million in Series A funding in 2024, with backing from Placeholder VC, as lead investor, and other notable VCs including Robot Ventures, Wintermute and Selini, among others.

Last year, the exchange acquired FTX EU, the European arm of the collapsed crypto giant, giving it access to a MiFID II-regulated framework. It is based in Dubai, where it obtained a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license.

The Block reached out to Backpack for confirmation, but did not hear back by publication.