Backpack Exchange Plans Token Release with Vesting Schedule Linked to Public Listing
Armani Ferrante, the founder of Backpack, explains that employees and investors will be excluded from receiving tokens at the initial distribution to prevent insiders from "dumping on retail" investors.
The cryptocurrency exchange Backpack, which was established by individuals who previously worked at FTX, has announced plans to introduce a token with a total supply of 1 billion units in the coming period, with the distribution timeline directly connected to the company's ambitions of completing an initial public offering in the United States.
In a statement shared on X this Monday, Backpack revealed that the token distribution will commence with one-quarter of the planned total supply, equivalent to 250 million tokens, which will become accessible on a launch date that has yet to be announced publicly.
An additional 37.5% of the overall token supply, representing 375 million pre-IPO tokens, will be released "upon achievement of key milestones," according to Ferrante, who specified that these milestones could encompass expanding operations into a new geographic region or introducing a new product offering to the market.
The final 375 million post-IPO tokens would remain locked for a period of one year following the company's public market debut, with these tokens being maintained strategically within a corporate treasury for future use.
This IPO initiative emerges as Axios published a report on Monday indicating that Backpack is currently engaged in negotiations to secure $50 million in funding at a pre-money valuation of $1 billion, which could position the company as the cryptocurrency sector's newest unicorn.
In another post published separately, Backpack's co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Armani Ferrante stated on X this Monday that the fundamental "guiding principle" behind the structure of its token unlocks was designed to ensure that "insiders 'dumping on retail' should be impossible."
Ferrante, who served as an early-stage employee at Alameda Research, which had ties to FTX, further explained that neither the Backpack team members nor the company's investors should derive wealth from the token "until the product hits escape velocity," a point he indicated would arrive when the company successfully executes an initial public offering.
"Going public might happen quickly, it might happen not so quickly, and in fact, it might not happen at all," Ferrante said. "In any case, we're going for it."
According to Ferrante's explanation, "not a single founder, executive, team member, or venture investor has been given a direct token allocation," emphasizing that the team's compensation is structured through equity ownership in the company rather than token holdings.
"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," he added.
"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."
Backpack was established in 2022, with Ferrante co-founding the exchange platform alongside Tristan Yver, who previously served as strategy lead at FTX.US, and Can Sun, the former general counsel at FTX.