In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph on February 27, Armani Ferrante, the founder and CEO of the recently launched Backpack cryptocurrency exchange, emphasized the success of the platform as evidence of the growing need for trustworthy exchanges in the crypto industry. Ferrante stated, “What we witnessed was essentially confirmation that the world requires a new, reliable crypto exchange.”
Within just four days of its trading pre-season launch, Backpack achieved a trading volume of over $1 billion on February 18. However, according to data from CoinGecko, the exchange experienced a 6.4% decrease in daily trading volume, amounting to $296 million, in the 24 hours leading up to 4:30 pm UTC on February 27.
Ferrante highlighted the increased demand from crypto investors for transparent solutions, citing incidents in both decentralized finance protocols and traditional financial institutions over the past two years. Notably, he mentioned the collapse of several major regional banks in the United States in 2023, such as Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank. Additionally, Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, collapsed in March and was subsequently acquired by UBS, the country’s central bank, to prevent a banking sector crisis.
Ferrante believes that cryptocurrencies have the potential to address the shortcomings of traditional financial products, and he aims to accelerate this transformation in the future. He also emphasized the exchange’s focus on global expansion.
Backpack obtained a virtual asset service provider license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority in October 2023. Additionally, the Solana-based exchange secured several operational licenses in various jurisdictions worldwide during the latter half of 2023.
In related news, MicroStrategy recently acquired 3,000 BTC, coinciding with the rise of Bitcoin ETFs, which are on track to surpass gold ETFs in popularity.