# Armani Ferrante

> Armani Ferrante is the founder and CEO of Backpack and the creator of Anchor, a framework for building Solana programs. A UC Berkeley computer science graduate and former Apple software engineer, he co-founded the business behind Backpack Wallet and Mad Lads with Tristan Yver. After FTX’s collapse trapped $14.5 million of company funds in 2022, he continued building the company, which subsequently expanded into a regulated exchange and tokenized equities.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Backpack
- **Organizations:** Backpack, Coral, Anchor, Mad Lads, Apple, Alameda Research
- **Education:** Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Created Anchor, an open-source development framework for Solana programs., Co-founded the business behind Backpack Wallet, the xNFT standard and the Mad Lads collection., Kept Backpack operating after losing most of its operating funds in the FTX collapse.

## Career timeline

- **2017** — Left his software engineering job at Apple to pursue Ethereum and open-source blockchain work.
- **2018** — Worked at Alameda Research from January to March, according to his October 2026 interview.
- **2020** — Returned in September to a role supporting early Solana infrastructure; subsequently created Anchor.
- **2022** — Founded Backpack in April with Tristan Yver; Coral announced a $20 million funding round in September.
- **2022** — FTX’s November collapse trapped approximately $14.5 million of company operating funds.
- **2023** — Launched Mad Lads in April; Backpack received its Dubai VASP license in October and beta-launched its exchange in November.
- **2024** — Backpack raised a $17 million Series A led by Placeholder at a $120 million valuation in February.
- **2025** — Backpack announced its acquisition of FTX EU in January and launched Backpack EU on September 8; daily proof of reserves launched in August.
- **2026** — Discussed international access to U.S. equities on CNBC in July and tokenized stock infrastructure on The Defiant in October.

## Achievements

- Created Anchor, an open-source development framework for Solana programs.
- Co-founded the business behind Backpack Wallet, the xNFT standard and the Mad Lads collection.
- Kept Backpack operating after losing most of its operating funds in the FTX collapse.
- Led Backpack through a $17 million Series A and expansion into European trading services.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Appeared on The Defiant on October 19 to discuss tokenized-stock models, redeemability and links between brokerage accounts and decentralized finance.
- **2026-10** — Confirmed by the Solana Foundation on October 12 as a speaker for Breakpoint in London, scheduled for November 15-17, 2026.
- **2026-10** — Joined Frictionless with Logan Jastremski for an October 1 episode on tokenized stocks, licensing and global liquidity.
- **2026-07** — Backpack published his CNBC interview with Morgan Brennan on July 23, discussing 24/7 access to U.S. equities for international investors.

## Links

- Website: https://backpack.exchange/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/armaniferrante/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/armaniferrante
- GitHub: https://github.com/armaniferrante

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/armani-ferrante
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26