Former employees of FTX and Alameda Analysis have secured $17 million to establish Backpack, a cryptocurrency alternate. They’re among the many companies trying to bridge the void created by the demise of their earlier employer, Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency conglomerate.
Backpack is value $120 million after finishing a Sequence A funding spherical; the corporate’s merchandise additionally embrace an NFT assortment and a cryptocurrency pockets, in line with a Bloomberg report on Wednesday.
Placeholder VC, a enterprise capital agency that specializes on web3s, led the spherical, through which Hashed, Robotic Ventures, Amber Group, Wintermute, and Selini additionally participated.
Bloomberg: FTX, Alameda Alums Elevate $17 Million for Crypto Alternate Startup.
— Crypto Crib (@Crypto_Crib_) February 28, 2024
Backpack: Crypto’s Future After FTX Downfall?
Virtually a 12 months after FTX’s demise, Armani Ferrante and Can Solar co-founded Backpack, which debuted in October of final 12 months. Ferrante was an early worker at Alameda and now serves as CEO of Backpack; he has been a contributor to Solana for a very long time.
As common counsel for FTX, Solar offered testimony as a authorities witness in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraudulent scheme. He claimed to be unaware of the corporate’s improper use of consumers’ cryptocurrency and cash. Among the many 40 employees at Backpack are 5 ex-FTX personnel.
Ferrante, Solar, and their crew have efficiently navigated a brand new path despite the lingering results of their earlier associations. They’ve amassed a worldwide person base of over 420,000 verified aficionados and obtained a extremely sought-after digital asset service supplier license in Dubai.
Bitcoin is now buying and selling at $63.146. Chart: TradingView.com
Backpack runs a cryptocurrency alternate that’s now accessible in the US as of final week. It additionally runs the Mad Lads NFT assortment and a digital pockets platform.
Ferrante emphasised that beginning a bitcoin alternate immediately could be very totally different from beginning one or two years in the past. The bar for these sorts of tasks, he feels, has raised significantly, particularly because the FTX disaster.
Backpack is the most recent in a line of recent ventures which have sprung as much as capitalize on alternatives left by the autumn of FTX. Launched final 12 months, EDX Markets is now rising into Singapore with the assist of Citadel Securities and Constancy Digital Belongings. Monetary establishments have been the first targets of Rulematch’s December launch in Europe.
Replace On Sam Bankman-Fried Case
In one other improvement, authorized counsels for Sam Bankman-Fried, who based the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency alternate FTX, acknowledged this week that their consumer ought to serve a most of six and a half years in jail moderately than the hundred years that probation officers had recommended. They described the previous crypto wunderkind a “a misunderstood first-offender.”
In the meantime, Bankman-Fried has been making stunning assertions whereas incarcerated. After being discovered responsible on crimes associated to the demise of FTX, he has been detained on the Metropolitan Detention Heart in Brooklyn because the summer time of final 12 months, awaiting sentencing.
In response to these with information of the state of affairs, Bankman-Fried has been selling Solana (SOL) investments whereas incarcerated.
Citing his “autism,” the previous mogul has begged the decide to cut back his sentence to a most of six and a half years, expressing his honest apologies for the $8 billion rip-off.
On March 15, federal prosecutors will launch their recommended sentence size; sentencing will happen on March 28.
Featured picture from Pexels, chart from TradingView
