Author: KarenZ, Foresight News

In the "Western World" of cryptocurrency, "founders cash out and leave" and "project parties cut off leeks" have become naked profit plunder, becoming a chronic disease that constrains the development of Web3. Therefore, “token economics” is often regarded as an accelerator of team wealth and a touchstone of user confidence.

However, when we turn our attention to Backpack, we see a completely different design: Backpack has chosen a thorny path that directly addresses the pain points of the industry: all liquidity tokens are given to users during TGE, and the profits of the team and investors are completely bound to the company's IPO process.

Backpack’s move abandons the reckless design of “VCs save the money and retail investors foot the bill.” Regardless of whether it is ultimately successful or not, this is a respectable attempt in the history of cryptocurrency.

Delayed gratification: the long-term game between teams and capital

In Backpack’s token economic system, the most eye-catching thing is the strict restrictions on the income of the team and investors - no founder, executive, employee or venture capitalist can directly receive token distribution.

In the words of Armani Ferrante, founder and CEO of Backpack, the "escape speed" that Backpack pursues has never been the market value exceeding several billion US dollars, nor is it a short-term milestone when the number of users reaches a certain number, but after the company successfully completes its IPO in the United States.

All tokens (37.5% of the total supply) originally used for "team incentives" and "investor returns" have been deposited into the company's "corporate treasury", that is, Backpack's balance sheet. Even after the IPO is successful, these tokens are set to have a complete lock-up period of at least one year, further eliminating the possibility of "cash out as soon as they are listed."

This "delayed gratification" design is the best protection for the long-term value of the project. In the encryption industry, the collapse of too many projects stems from the "eagerness for quick success" of teams and investors - selling tokens too early to cash out, causing token prices to collapse, projects losing user trust, and eventually dying. Backpack's approach completely cuts off the "short-term cash-out" path for internal staff, allowing the team and investors to "advance and retreat together" with the project.

Of course, an IPO is not an easy road. Backpack’s founder admits that listing may be close at hand, or it may be far away, or even impossible to achieve in the end. But no matter what the outcome, they will give it their all. This determination to “not break or establish” makes Backpack stand out among the crypto projects that are eager for quick success, but it has also won the trust of users who truly value long-term value.

User-first token distribution: using incentives to ignite the growth engine

In Backpack Token Economics, all liquidity tokens are fully distributed to users. In Backpack's view, users are the core driving force for project growth, so tokens should become the fuel to encourage user participation and promote product development.

• The total supply is 1 billion, and TGE directly releases 25% to the community: of which, point holders account for 24% and Mad Lads holders account for 1%.

• Trigger unlocks through key product milestones prior to IPO (37.5%) Every market development and every new product launched is an opportunity to use tokens to motivate users, and will trigger the corresponding token unlocking. This design continues to attract new users and expand the community through predictable token unlocking patterns.

More importantly, according to Armani Ferrante’s description, Backpack sets strict constraints for token unlocking: the new ecological value brought by token unlocking must always be greater than its dilutive effect on the token price.

This design not only ensures the core interests of users, but also ensures that the long-term value of the project will not be diluted by short-term unlocking activities, making token incentives truly a catalyst for platform growth, achieving a win-win situation for "user benefits, ecological value-added, and project growth."

Under compliance: slow is fast

In addition to the innovation in token distribution, another distinctive feature of Backpack is its pursuit of compliance. This is in sharp contrast to the common logic in the industry of "expansion first, compliance later" and "emphasis on scale, over compliance".

According to Armani Ferrante, "Backpack currently only serves about 48% of the world's regions. Behind this seemingly slow expansion is the pursuit of compliance."

This strategic choice may miss market opportunities in the short term, but from a long-term development perspective, it is the key to building trust barriers.

Currently, Backpack is currently positioned as a compliant crypto exchange, providing cryptocurrency spot, derivatives and lending services. However, it is not satisfied with being a pure cryptocurrency exchange, but is committed to building a compliance platform that integrates crypto assets and traditional financial (TradFi) services. In order to achieve this goal, the team is laying banking tracks around the world, and also plans to gradually launch diversified services such as securities products in the future. Backpack also launched its unified forecast portfolio product with cross-margin and cross-collateralization in January.

Market Perspective: What do you think of Backpack FDV?

The market’s attitude towards Backpack also reflects the controversy and potential of its model.

According to Axios, citing people familiar with the matter, Backpack is negotiating new financing terms and its pre-money valuation has reached $1 billion.

On the prediction market Polymarket, the market's expectations for the Backpack token show obvious fluctuations: the market bets that the probability that the FDV of the Backpack token will exceed $1 billion within a day is 21%, and in November 2025, this probability once reached more than 80%. Of course, this kind of fluctuation is largely due to the uncertainty of the crypto market itself, and also reflects the market’s cautious attitude towards the “IPO-bound revenue” model.

Summary

When tokens become a tool for project parties to cash out, and when users become targets of harvesting, the encryption industry loses its original ideals. The token distribution of Backpack actually physically separates the equity incentives of Web2 from the token utility of Web3.

• For the team: The only way out is to make the product stronger and compliant until IPO. If the company fails midway or cannot be listed, the equity in the team's hands will be worthless and there will be no possibility of cashing out.

• For the community: They are no longer a liquidity outlet for VCs. Tokens are purely user rewards and ecological tools, not a cash machine for the team.

Backpack’s choice is to use compliance, transparency, and long-termism to redefine the value logic of encryption projects, allowing us to see another possibility in the Web3 industry.

As Armani Ferrante said: "We either go big, or we go home." This sentence is not only the declaration of the Backpack team, but also a must-answer question for the entire Web3 industry: Do we continue to revel in the speculative bubble, overdrafting the trust and future of the industry; or do we, like Backpack, choose the harder, slower, but more promising path to reconstruct the industry ecology with long-termism?

Of course, IPO is not easy and has a long road ahead. Especially in the encryption industry, it faces multiple challenges such as regulation, market, and competition. Surprises and uncertainties are everywhere.