MadLads creator Backpack to offer native crypto exchange in Dubai

Backpack Exchange will be publicly available sometime in early 2024

article-image

Melnikov Dmitriy/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

MadLads creator Backpack has launched a crypto exchange now that it has secured a VASP license from Dubai.

Backpack Exchange will first be made available as a private beta for existing Backpack and MadLads community members sometime in November. The exchange, which will only offer spot trading for the time being, will publicly launch in the first quarter of 2024. 

Developers will be working to add derivatives and margin trading to the exchange after its launch, according to a press release. 

Backpack founder and CEO Armani Ferrante announced the news early Tuesday morning on X, formerly Twitter, saying that creating this exchange was “the hardest yet most important project” his team has worked on “by far.”

Loading Tweet..

The floor price of Solana-based NFT collection MadLads pumped as much as 19 solana (SOL) (about $690) in the hours after Ferrante’s post about the new exchange, according to CoinGecko

Ferrante also wrote that since the MadLads mint in April 2023, Backpack has “tripled” the size of its team and “worked with global regulators.”

The Backpack Exchange plans to employ zero-knowledge proofs to verify its reserves, as well as use multi-party computation (MPC) technology to custody user assets, according to a statement shared with Blockworks.  

Backpack is also behind the concept of xNFTs, or executable NFTs. They double as digital assets and apps that run code. Essentially, these xNFTs can live in your Backpack wallet as games, DeFi protocols and even music platforms. 

It’s unclear if these digital assets will play a specific role in the upcoming exchange.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
  • Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

The platform also rolled out 13 tokenized funds for institutions on the Connect platform

article-image

The company’s expanded lineup introduces new ETF products, as more and more issuers get into crypto funds

article-image

President Donald Trump announced a 10% levy on almost all goods and additional tariffs on so-called “worst offending” countries

article-image

Solana may be in “recomposition” mode, as new protocols put usefulness ahead of mere virality

article-image

The stablecoin issuer will have to contend with bigger players and the interest rates environment

article-image

The president reportedly was still working on his tariff policy plans late Tuesday evening