Armani Ferrante is the Founder and CEO of Backpack, a regulated global crypto exchange with over $420 billion in trading volume and one of the leading builders in the Solana ecosystem.

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PARTNERS

🚀 Jupiter is the most used Decentralized Exchange in Crypto and the largest DEX by volume on Solana: https://jup.ag/

💳 KAST lets you manage and spend stablecoins or crypto with a Visa Card or Apple Pay. Live in 100+ countries: https://go.kast.xyz/VqVO/SHIFT

🔓 Trezor offers the safest cold-storage wallets for crypto and true financial independence.

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🌱 Bitwise Asset Management manages $15B+ across 30+ crypto investment products — ETFs, index funds, alpha, staking, and more. https://bitwiseinvestments.com/

⚖️ Ethena is a synthetic dollar protocol on Ethereum, offering a crypto-native, non-bank-dependent stablecoin called USDe. It uses a delta-neutral hedging strategy with staked ETH to maintain a $1 peg. https://ethena.fi/

🔒Sumsub is the leading full-cycle verification platform for the crypto industry, chosen by 8 out of 10 of the world’s largest exchanges. From instant KYC and KYB to automated crypto transaction monitoring, they help VASPs, exchanges, and DeFi platforms prevent fraud, stay compliant, and scale globally. https://sumsub.com/

💧 Sui is a next-gen Layer 1 making digital asset ownership fast, private, and secure.

https://sui.io/

♾️ Coinsilium provides vital funding and expert advice to Web3 and AI-powered early-stage technology companies.

https://www.coinsilium.com

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Follow Armani Ferrante

• Twitter: https://x.com/armaniferrante

• Twitter: https://x.com/Backpack

• Website: https://backpack.exchange/

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DISCLAIMER

The info contained herein is for informational purposes only. Nothing herein shall be construed to be financial, legal, or tax advice. The content of this video is solely the opinions of the speakers who are not a licensed financial advisor or registered investment advisor. Trading cryptocurrencies poses considerable risk of loss. The speakers do not guarantee any particular outcome.

0:00 Introduction

1:32 Please Subscribe

1:56 Michelle Fuko & Her Philosophical View On The Panopticon Metaphor

5:25 Armani’s Answer To This Philosophical View In Regards To Crypto

7:50 Who Is Armani Ferrante?

8:39 Partnerships: @JupiterExchange @KASTxyz

9:19 Where Armani’s Chip On The Shoulder Comes From

10:43 Getting Hired Twice At Alameda Research Twice Explained

13:46 Being Able To Work On Early Solana Projects

14:43 Why Instead Of Going To FTX Did Armani Go & Build His Own Exchange?

18:26 Was There Ever Any FOMO From Not Joining FTX?

23:32 Partnerships: @Ethena @sumsub

24:34 How Armani & Backpack Got Affected By The FTX Collapse

36:25 What’s The TLDR On The MadLad Story

42:03 How Important Was The MadLad Story For Backpack?

43:40 Armani’s Deepest Belief On What Crypto Should Be

51:59 Partnerships: @Trezor @BitwiseInvest @SuiNetwork

52:55 Explain Backpack To Your Uber Driver

57:36 Most Of Crypto Is Currently A Test Bed

1:04:15 Percentage Of People Think They Own Shares From Huge Companies But Really Don’t

1:06:41 What Unified Margin Accounts Solve & Why You Should Care

1:15:20 Why Armani Left Sunny California For Tokyo Japan

1:17:18 Why These Huge Exchanges Don’t Exist In Japan

1:18:43 How Did Backpack Acquire Licenses At A fraction Of The Cost Compared To FTX

1:21:53 Closing Thoughts

E165: Backpack CEO: How I Survived Crypto's Biggest Collapse, Then Built a $420B Exchange

When Shift Happens Podcast

E165: Backpack CEO: How I Survived Crypto's Biggest Collapse, Then Built a $420B Exchange