Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante denies cashing out of BP OTC, downplays FDV focus as outrage over 'witch hunt' Civil ban forces appeals, buybacks and rethinking of equity.
Backpack founder and CEO Armani Ferrante has moved to quell the backlash over the trade's BP token launch, publicly denying that the staff used an over-the-counter sale to extricate itself from its place and acknowledging that its aggressive anti-Civil course of unfairly hurts elements of the group. In an in depth publish about X, Ferrante wrote, “OTC. I can't consider I’ve to say this. No, we’re not OTCing our personal tokens to money out,” including, “FUD is a chance to handle misconceptions or determine errors and easily appropriate them.” (x.com) He burdened that previous references to OTC had been “solely supposed to assist critical consumers discover the tokens” and to not ease the staff's allocation.
The feedback observe days of concern over BP's token era occasion on March 23, the place airdrop rewards for customers flagged as “witches” or suspected of getting Sybil accounts had been considerably lowered or canceled. Concerning X, Ferrante acknowledged that the vetting course of had develop into overly rigorous, writing that the staff's method to witchcraft instances was “too mechanical” and that “extra complicated instances are being re-evaluated.” AInvest evaluation famous that Backpack opened a dissent channel and promised to revive as much as 50% of their tokens to some affected customers, alongside a buyback program aimed toward stabilizing BP's secondary market liquidity.
A storm brewed when BP started buying and selling at a completely diluted valuation, matching the chances the market had already priced in and quickly approaching the $200 million vary. In February, O'Daly reported on Polymarket that there was a 98% probability that BP's FDV would exceed $100 million, and an 87% probability that it could exceed $200 million the day after itemizing, suggesting a per-share worth vary of roughly $0.10 to $0.20. token. AInvest later estimated that BP had fallen to round $0.27, with FDV near $200 million, as group confidence wavered.
Nevertheless, Ferrante urged customers to contemplate short-term market fluctuations. “FDV shouldn’t be the central metric we’re optimizing for,” he wrote, arguing as a substitute that “long-term product-market match, compliance, and transparency” will decide the backpack's final worth. As reported by (KuCoin) forward of TGE, Backpack touts a extra “IPO-like” tokenomics construction tied to its underlying fairness and compliance footprint, and operates in fewer than half of the world's jurisdictions to remain inside regulatory guardrails.
The present disaster comes at a troubling time for backpacks. Backpack has been touting itself as a post-FTX “security first” trade, with each day proof-of-reserve and a Solana-focused buying and selling stack. In a earlier crypto.information article, Ferrante stated the trade was an try and “do it the precise manner” after dropping $14.5 million within the FTX collapse and seeing confidence within the trade evaporate. Now, the trade's promise of equity is being examined by customers blindsided by airdrop clawbacks and suspicious of indicators of OTC exercise.
Backpack's response, together with its public denial of the OTC cashout, its tender stance on the witchcraft case, and its renewed emphasis on long-term coordination, will decide whether or not BP's launch will likely be remembered as a troubling however fixable growth or because the second when the mission's social capital reached its peak. In a market nonetheless scarred by trade explosions and opaque token buying and selling, how Ferrante delivers on these guarantees may very well be extra vital than BP's subsequent tick on the charts.
