Crypto exchange Backpack has laid out a token plan directly linked to its longer-term goal of a U.S. public listing. The company said its token will have a total supply of 1 billion, with an initial 25%, or 250 million tokens, set to be released on a future date that has not been disclosed. Another 37.5%, or 375 million tokens, would unlock before any IPO if the company reaches what it called key milestones. The remaining 375 million tokens are designated as post-IPO supply and will stay locked until at least one year after a public listing, held in the corporate treasury.
Token unlocks are tied to business milestones
In a post on X on Monday, Backpack said the release schedule is not built around a fixed calendar. It is tied to corporate progress instead. Co-founder and chief executive Armani Ferrante said those milestones could include expansion into new regions or the launch of additional products. That means the pre-IPO unlocks depend on execution rather than the passage of time. The exact timing for the first token release is still unknown.
The structure sets Backpack apart from more familiar exchange-token models. Early liquidity is constrained, while the main point of value realization is pushed toward the company’s path to the public market.
Ferrante says insiders did not receive direct token allocations
In a separate X post, Ferrante said the “guiding principle” behind the design was to make insiders “dumping on retail” impossible. He added that neither the founding team nor investors should gain financially from the token before the business reaches what he described as “escape velocity,” a stage he explicitly linked to going public.
According to Ferrante, no founders, executives, employees, or venture investors received direct token allocations. The team holds equity in the company instead, and any token-linked wealth depends on a future equity liquidity event such as an IPO. He also said a listing could happen quickly, could take longer, or might not happen at all, but the company is still pursuing that route.
IPO ambitions surface alongside fundraising talks
The listing push is emerging at the same time as reported fundraising discussions. Axios reported on Monday that Backpack is talking with investors about a $50 million round at a $1 billion pre-money valuation. If completed, that would place the exchange among the latest crypto unicorns.
The reported talks show Backpack trying to combine two tracks that have often been kept separate in crypto: token issuance and equity financing. Rather than presenting the token as a substitute for public-market access, the company appears to be framing it as an addition to a future listing. That is a different posture from earlier crypto models, where tokens often served as the main liquidity event for founders and early backers.
FTX ties add weight to the design choices
Backpack launched in 2022 and was co-founded by Ferrante, U.S. strategy lead Tristan Yver, and former FTX general counsel Can Sun. Ferrante also previously worked at Alameda Research. Since the collapse of FTX, exchange-issued tokens have faced sharper scrutiny from regulators and investors, making Backpack’s emphasis on delayed insider rewards and separation between equity ownership and token distribution a focal point.
Several details remain open. Backpack has not said when the first 250 million tokens will go live, and it has not specified which metrics will trigger the pre-IPO unlocks. The outcome of the reported fundraising talks, and whether a public listing actually happens, will shape how the market reads this token model.