Propose an edit: Backpack

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Backpack is a self custodial Solana, Ethereum, and Bitcoin wallet and, since 2024, a fully centralized exchange, built by the team behind the Anchor smart contract framework. It grew out of Coral, an infrastructure company led by [[Armani Ferrante]] and former FTX executive Tristan Yver, and became essential trench infrastructure when its wallet hosted the exclusive Mad Lads NFT launch in April 2023. The company issued its own BP token in March 2026 with zero allocation to founders, team, or investors.

## Origin

Backpack originated from Coral, a Solana infrastructure company led by Armani Ferrante and Tristan Yver, a former FTX executive. Ferrante built Anchor, the smart contract framework used by roughly half of all Solana programs, and worked on Solana infrastructure including Sollet and Serum starting September 2020. Coral published its xNFT thesis in a June 14, 2022 blog post, arguing web3 needed executable, app like NFTs, and shipped the self custodial Backpack Wallet, spanning Solana, Ethereum, and Bitcoin with an xNFT plugin runtime, as the vehicle for that idea.

## Mad Lads and the trench breakout

The moment Backpack became essential trench infrastructure: Mad Lads, a 10,000 piece NFT collection built by Coral, launched exclusively through Backpack Wallet on April 20, 2023, giving the wallet its breakout distribution moment inside Solana NFT culture.

## Growth into an exchange

Backpack raised 17 million dollars from Solana ecosystem investors in February 2024 to build out the wallet and exchange. Backpack Exchange launched as a fully centralized exchange headquartered in Dubai under a Virtual Asset Service Provider license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, offering spot, perpetual futures, dated futures, prediction markets, borrow and lend, RFQ, vaults, and tokenized securities alongside the wallet.

## The BP token

On February 23, 2026, Ferrante announced that holders who stake the exchange token for at least one year can exchange it for company equity, with 20 percent of Backpack's current equity allocated to the program. The BP token generation event ran March 23, 2026: total supply 1 billion tokens, with 25 percent (250 million) unlocked and airdropped at the generation event to Backpack Points program participants and Mad Lads NFT holders, and zero allocation to founders, team, or investors.

BP opened trading at 0.31 dollars, a 3.1 billion dollar fully diluted valuation, spiked to an all time high near 0.3771 dollars within hours, then fell as much as 36 percent from airdrop heavy sell pressure before stabilizing; the token traded around 0.3787 dollars as of August 2026.

## Beyond the trenches

Ferrante told CoinDesk on January 25, 2026 that Solana's current phase is "much more about finance" than memecoins, and has separately argued centralized exchanges are the "safest" path to self custody, positioning Backpack as infrastructure beyond trench trading even as its wallet remains a default choice among Solana traders.

## Status in the trenches

Backpack is a recurring top of mind wallet recommendation in trench discourse. Traders reply to peers asking which wallet to use with plain endorsements like "Use @Backpack and thank me later," and it appears alongside [[Phantom]], Rabby, and OKX Wallet in community wallet tier list threads.

## References

- https://github.com/api-evangelist/backpack
- https://solanacompass.com/learn/Unlayered/from-ftx-to-next-gen-cex-armani-ferrante-backpack
- https://iq.wiki/wiki/armani-ferrante
- https://lhorla.medium.com/a-deep-dive-into-mad-lads-xnft-revolution-2db92359c48d
- https://nftnow.com/features/mad-lads-what-to-know-about-the-project-reviving-solana/
- https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/02/28/solana-veterans-raise-17m-for-backpack-crypto-wallet-exchange
- https://www.theblock.co/post/262124/backpack-exchange-duabi
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/backpack-announces-launch-of-cryptocurrency-exchange-backpack-exchange-receives-approval-for-vasp-license-from-the-dubai-virtual-asset-regulatory-authority-301972208.html
- https://phemex.com/news/article/backpack-offers-equity-exchange-for-longterm-token-stakers-62101
- https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/03/23/backpack-launches-bp-token-on-solana-with-25-airdrop-no-insider-allocation
- https://learn.backpack.exchange/blog/backpack-token-ticker-bp
- https://www.spotedcrypto.com/backpack-bp-token-tge-analysis/
- https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/backpack
- https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/01/25/solana-s-new-phase-is-much-more-about-finance-says-backpack-ceo-armani-ferrante
- https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/innovation/backpack-ceo-armani-ferrante-says-centralized-exchanges-are-safest-path-to-self-custody

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