{"id":25874,"date":"2025-01-08T08:34:19","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T08:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/?p=25874"},"modified":"2025-01-08T08:34:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T08:34:19","slug":"rising-from-the-ashes-former-ftx-and-alameda-team-seizes-european-subsidiary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/rising-from-the-ashes-former-ftx-and-alameda-team-seizes-european-subsidiary\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising from the Ashes: Former FTX and Alameda Team Seizes European Subsidiary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To enhance its footprint in Europe, Backpack Exchange, a cryptocurrency trading platform founded by former staffers of Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s FTX and Alameda Research, has purchased the European branch of the insolvent FTX exchange for $32.7 million.<\/p>\n

According to a previous Bloomberg report<\/a>, this acquisition aims to broaden Backpack’s derivatives capabilities in a growing market for regulated crypto derivatives in Europe.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Transfer of FTX EU Bankruptcy Claims<\/span><\/h2>\n

FTX EU was among the branches that entered bankruptcy following the exchange\u2019s downfall in 2022. As a condition of the acquisition, the Dubai-based Backpack will take over the distribution of court-sanctioned bankruptcy claims, amounting to around \u20ac53 million ($55 million), to FTX EU\u2019s affected customers.<\/p>\n

Previously, the FTX estate sought to reclaim millions from the original owners of FTX EU, but this lawsuit was retracted as part of a settlement that enabled the unit’s sale to co-founders Patrick Gruhn and Robin Matzke, who subsequently sold it to Backpack.<\/p>\n

This acquisition is significant as FTX EU possesses a MiFID II license, which allows it to conduct crypto derivatives trading within the European Union.<\/p>\n

The transaction has been approved by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, allowing Backpack to legally function in the area.<\/p>\n

Armani Ferrante, Backpack’s CEO, stressed that prioritizing the return of funds to customers is the company’s “top priority” post-acquisition. In an interview, he declared, \u201cWe will not serve a single user, nor execute a single trade in the EU until we have the capability to return funds to customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Emerging Player in Cryptocurrency<\/span><\/h2>\n

Established in 2022, Backpack has quickly gained recognition in the sector. Ferrante, who has prior experience with Alameda Research and contributed significantly to the Solana blockchain\u2019s development, offers invaluable insights.<\/p>\n

Co-founder Tristan Yver is also a former executive at FTX. Backpack has acquired a virtual asset service provider license in Dubai and is in pursuit of a license to operate in Japan, after successfully raising $17 million last year, leading to a valuation of $120 million.<\/p>\n

With the acquisition of FTX EU, Backpack is set to provide regulated crypto derivatives, including perpetual swaps, which are futures contracts that have no expiration, across the European Union.<\/p>\n

As the regulated crypto derivatives market in Europe draws increasing interest from crypto companies, evidenced by Coinbase Global Inc.\u2019s recent acquisition of a brokerage unit in Cyprus also holding a MiFID II license, firms are keen to tap into this sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cDerivatives account for a large portion of crypto trading volume,\u201d Ferrante observed, expressing excitement over the opportunity to reintroduce crypto derivatives trading to the EU.<\/p>\n

As the landscape evolves, companies like Backpack are likely to be pivotal in shaping the future of cryptocurrency by delivering innovative and regulated products to satisfy rising demand.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Currently, FTT, the native token of the defunct exchange, is trading at $3, reflecting a broader market correction with an approximate 11% decrease.<\/p>\n

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To enhance its footprint in Europe, Backpack Exchange, a cryptocurrency trading platform founded by former staffers of Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s FTX and Alameda Research, has purchased the European branch of the insolvent FTX exchange for $32.7 million. According to a previous Bloomberg report, this acquisition aims to broaden Backpack’s derivatives capabilities in a growing market for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":25875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"Rising from the Ashes: Former FTX and Alameda Team Seizes European Subsidiary - Bitrabo","description":"To enhance its footprint in Europe, Backpack Exchange, a cryptocurrency trading platform founded by former staffers of Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s FTX and Alameda Resea"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[4625,2267,3375,5711,554,607,7549,1892],"class_list":["post-25874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crypto-news","tag-acquire","tag-alameda","tag-collapse","tag-comeback","tag-employees","tag-european","tag-exftx","tag-subsidiary"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}