This episode of The New Money Podcast features Armani Ferrante, founder and CEO of Backpack, the regulated crypto exchange and wallet platform unifying access to digital assets across chains and fiat. Armani unpacks Backpack’s brand philosophy, why the company prioritizes custody, security, and global liquidity, and his journey from Apple to Alameda to the early Solana ecosystem. He shares candid lessons from the FTX collapse—after losing 88% of company capital—and how that shaped Backpack’s transparency-first, compliance-led culture. The conversation dives into Backpack’s launch in Europe via the FTX EU acquisition, the emerging regulated perps landscape, and how CeFi front-ends can leverage DeFi back-ends for provable safety, including daily proof-of-reserves and zero-knowledge attestations. A timely look at where the digital asset market is heading and why the next wave of crypto adoption will blend regulation, real liquidity, and verifiable infrastructure.

Key Chapters

02:03 Backpack’s brand and aesthetic vision

05:04 Choosing Backpack’s product scope

06:55 From Apple to Backpack

09:04 FTX lessons and the survival plan

17:56 Why Europe and the regulatory strategy

19:54 Inside the FTX EU acquisition

22:48 Outlook on regulated market structure

24:42 CeFi meets DeFi in exchange design

27:01 Auditable infrastructure and daily proofs

28:51 Quickfire Insights on Fintech and Crypto Trends

This is NOT financial, tax, or legal advice

Music by Marcelo Cataldo - http://www.marcelocataldo.com