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 alternate’s BP token launch, publicly denying that the crew did an over-the-counter sale to get out of its place and acknowledging that its aggressive anti-Civil course of unfairly hurts components of the group. In an in depth submit about X, Ferrante wrote, “OTC. I am unable to imagine I’ve to say this. No, we’re not OTCing our personal tokens to money out,” including, “FUD is a chance to deal with misconceptions or establish errors and easily appropriate them.” (x.com) He confused that previous references to OTC had been “solely supposed to assist severe consumers discover the tokens” and to not ease the crew’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. Relating to X, Ferrante acknowledged that the vetting course of had turn into overly rigorous, writing that the crew’s method to witchcraft circumstances was “too mechanical” and that “extra advanced circumstances 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 geared toward stabilizing BP’s secondary market liquidity.
A storm brewed when BP started buying and selling at a totally 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 value 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 is just not the central metric we’re optimizing for,” he wrote, arguing as an alternative 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” alternate, with every day proof-of-reserve and a Solana-focused buying and selling stack. In a earlier crypto.information article, Ferrante stated the alternate was an try to “do it the precise method” after dropping $14.5 million within the FTX collapse and seeing confidence within the business evaporate. Now, the alternate’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 mushy 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 venture’s social capital reached its peak. In a market nonetheless scarred by alternate explosions and opaque token buying and selling, how Ferrante delivers on these guarantees may very well be extra essential than BP’s subsequent tick on the charts.
