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What is Backpack?
5 min read · updated 25 May 2026
Backpack began as a Solana wallet and grew into two distinct products that share a brand: the self-custody wallet and the custodial Backpack Exchange. Understanding that split is the key to understanding Backpack.
The team and its pedigree
Backpack comes from Coral, the company led by Armani Ferrante, who also created Anchor — the framework most Solana programs are written in. That deep developer credibility is a big part of why Backpack is taken seriously, and it shows in the products' engineering polish.
The brand broke through publicly with Mad Lads, a high-profile NFT collection that minted through the Backpack wallet and drove a wave of adoption.
The two products
- Backpack wallet — self-custody. A multichain wallet where you hold the keys. It was the launch vehicle for "xNFTs" (an idea for executable NFTs — apps that live inside the wallet) and for Mad Lads.
- Backpack Exchange — custodial. A centralised exchange (CEX) for spot and derivatives trading, built to operate within regulatory frameworks. Like any CEX, it holds your funds while they're on the platform.
Why the custody distinction matters
These two products sit on opposite sides of crypto's most important line. With the wallet, you control the keys — and the responsibility. With the exchange, you trust a company to custody your assets, gaining convenience (fiat on-ramps, order books, no seed phrase to lose) but taking on counterparty risk — the lesson the industry relearned painfully with FTX. Same brand, very different trust models; know which one you're using.
Risks to keep in mind
- Self-custody wallet: your seed phrase is everything — lose it or leak it and funds are gone.
- Exchange: custodial counterparty risk; funds on any CEX are only as safe as the exchange.
For the latest Backpack news, see the Backpack project page.
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