Backpack US appoints former SEC Acting Chairman Piwowar to board amid push for crypto perps

Crypto exchange Backpack US has appointed former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Acting Chairman Michael S. Piwowar to its board of directors, according to an announcement on Tuesday. 

“The U.S. regulatory landscape for digital assets is entering a new phase, with increasing focus on bringing innovation into established financial market structures through clear rules and effective oversight,” Piwowar said in a statement. “What makes this moment different from prior cycles is the growing momentum toward regulatory clarity and durable market infrastructure.”

Piwowar, now at Georgetown University, was appointed by President Barack Obama and served as an SEC commissioner from 2013 to 2018. He also briefly served as acting chairman during President Donald Trump’s first term, having been preceded by Mary Jo White and succeeded by Jay Clayton in 2017.

Although Piwowar and other SEC commissioners stated at the time that bitcoin should not be considered a security, he and the Commission took a skeptical approach to the initial coin offering boom. The agency issued warnings about crypto scams and emphasized investor protection.

During Piwowar's four-month stint as acting chairman in 2017, the SEC rejected the Winklevoss twins' proposal for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, an application that had originally been filed four years earlier.

Prior to the SEC, Piwowar served as chief economist for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where he was the lead economist on the SEC-related titles of the Dodd-Frank Act and the JOBS Act. He also served as senior economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers during the Global Financial Crisis.

The appointment comes amid a broader expansion push by Backpack, the crypto exchange that started life as a Solana-based wallet created by the team behind the Mad Lads NFT collection. Earlier this month, the company unveiled its stock trading platform, which will offer access to traditional and tokenized equities. 

In Tuesday’s announcement, Backpack also signaled it planned to expand its perps trading offering in the U.S., in the wake of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission allowing Kalshi to offer the first regulated bitcoin perpetual futures contract. Backpack currently offers regulated perps trading in the EU.

“The CFTC’s approval of bitcoin perpetuals last week is a defining moment for this market. What was once only available offshore is now on a path to U.S.-regulated exchanges, and the coordinated approach between the CFTC and the SEC underscores just how much the policy environment has evolved,” Backpack US President Mark Wetjen said. 

Notably, Wetjen previously served as a commissioner and acting chairman of the CFTC. 

Backpack has also signaled plans to go public, including announcing a proposed “post-IPO” company treasury backed by 37.5% of its total 1 billion exchange token supply, as well as an equity-linked staking model that would reward stakers with 20% of its corporate equity.

Launched in 2023, Backpack last raised capital in a $17 million Series A funding round in 2024, led by Placeholder VC, with support from Robot Ventures, Wintermute, and Selini.