Backpack US Names Ex-SEC Acting Chair Michael Piwowar

Backpack US named former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission acting chair Michael S. Piwowar to its board of directors in an announcement Tuesday, as the exchange prepares to expand regulated U.S. trading of cryptocurrency perpetual contracts, commonly known as perps.

Piwowar said in a statement, “The U.S. regulatory landscape for digital assets is entering a new phase, with increasing focus on bringing innovation into established financial market structures through clear rules and effective oversight.”

Piwowar served on the SEC from 2013 to 2018 and was acting chair in 2017. He was appointed to the commission during the Obama administration and served briefly as acting chair before Jay Clayton became chairman later that year.

During his time at the agency, commissioners including Piwowar agreed that bitcoin should not be treated as a security. The SEC maintained a cautious stance on initial coin offerings and issued warnings about fraud and investor risk. While Piwowar was acting chair, the commission rejected a long-running application from the Winklevoss twins for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

Backpack currently offers regulated perpetuals trading in the European Union and flagged plans to expand perps trading in the United States after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved the first regulated bitcoin perpetual futures contract for another firm.

Mark Wetjen, Backpack US president and a former commissioner and acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, called the CFTC approval “a defining moment for this market,” adding that coordination between the CFTC and the SEC reflects changes in the policy environment.

Backpack began as a Solana-based wallet created by the team behind the Mad Lads NFT collection and launched a crypto exchange in 2023. Earlier this month the company introduced a stock trading platform that offers access to both traditional and tokenized equities.

The firm raised $17 million in a Series A funding round in 2024 led by Placeholder, with participation from Robot Ventures, Wintermute and Selini.

The company has disclosed plans for a potential public listing and proposed a post-IPO company treasury that would hold 37.5% of its 1 billion exchange token supply. Backpack described an equity-linked staking model intended to allocate 20% of corporate equity to token stakers. No timetable for an initial public offering has been provided.

Before his SEC service, Piwowar was chief economist for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and served as the lead economist on the SEC-related sections of the Dodd-Frank Act and the JOBS Act. He was also a senior economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers during the global financial crisis.

Backpack stated the board appointment is intended to support its effort to grow regulated derivatives offerings in U.S. markets.