Former FTX, Alameda staff close $17m investment for crypto exchange Backpack
VCs are backing a crypto startup led by former FTX and Alameda Analysis staff as a part of a brand new crypto trade.
In a collection A funding spherical, alums from FTX and Alameda raised $17 million for a crypto trade known as Backpack, which valued the corporate at $120 million and pulled capital funding from companies like Wintermute and Amber Group.
Backpack was launched in October final yr, almost a yr after FTX collapsed, and is co-founded by Armani Ferrante and Can Solar. Ferrante serves as Backpack’s CEO and was an early Alameda worker.
Solar, who testified as a authorities witness in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud, labored as FTX’s common counsel and stated he was oblivious to the agency’s unlawful use of buyer’s crypto and funds. Backpack has a 40-person workforce, 5 of whom are former FTX staff.
Ferrante stated expectations and scrutiny are definitely larger concerning constructing a crypto trade following FTX’s saga. Initially, entities steered away from investing in Backpack, however issues have improved following final yr’s conviction in a New York courthouse, Ferrante famous.
Backpack is a Dubai-based trade that has already onboarded 420,000 customers worldwide. The corporate recorded $6.5 billion in one-way buying and selling quantity this month and is reportedly seeing demand in Asian markets because it hopes to assert some market share left behind by FTX.
Different companies are additionally dashing in to fill the hole, significantly for skilled merchants, considered one of FTX’s major buyer bases. As an example, Constancy-based EDX Markets launched in 2023 with enlargement into Singapore.
Ferrante and Solar are working previous their Alameda ties, however Bankman-Fried faces repercussions following a courtroom’s responsible verdict. The previous tycoon has pleaded with a choose to shorten his sentence to a most of six-and-a-half years, citing his autism and saying he’s “deeply sorry” for the $8 billion fraud.
Federal prosecutors will publish their really useful sentence size on Mar. 15, with sentencing occurring on Mar. 28.
