In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph on February 27, Armani Ferrante, the founder and CEO of Backpack cryptocurrency exchange, expressed his belief that the success of the platform was a clear indication of the growing demand for trustworthy exchanges in the cryptocurrency industry.
Ferrante stated, “What we saw was ultimately just validation of the thesis that the world needs a new trustworthy crypto exchange.”
Within just four days of its trading pre-season launch, Backpack achieved an impressive milestone by surpassing $1 billion in 24-hour volume on February 18. However, according to CoinGecko data, the exchange’s daily trading volume experienced a slight decline of 6.4% to $296 million in the 24 hours leading up to 4:30 pm UTC on February 27.
The founder explained that crypto investors are now seeking more transparent solutions due to significant events that occurred in both decentralized finance protocols and traditional financial institutions over the past two years. In 2023, several prominent regional banks in the United States, such as Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank, collapsed. In Switzerland, Credit Suisse, the country’s second-largest bank, also faced a similar fate in March. To prevent a potential banking sector meltdown, Swiss authorities intervened and Credit Suisse was acquired by the country’s central bank, UBS, on March 19.
Ferrante believes that the cryptocurrency industry has the potential to address the shortcomings of traditional financial products and aims to accelerate this process in the future. He stated, “Crypto can vastly improve on the shortcomings of legacy financial products.”
Furthermore, Backpack has its sights set on global expansion. In October 2023, the exchange obtained a virtual asset service provider license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. Additionally, throughout the latter half of 2023, the Solana-based exchange secured multiple operational licenses in various jurisdictions worldwide.
In related news, MicroStrategy recently acquired 3,000 BTC, further demonstrating the growing popularity of Bitcoin ETFs, which are on track to surpass gold ETFs.