TL;DR:
- Backpack US added Michael S. Piwowar, former acting SEC chair, to its board of directors to strengthen its regulatory compliance and market position.
- The exchange announced plans to expand perpetual trading in the U.S. following the CFTC’s approval of bitcoin perpetual futures contracts.
- Backpack also launched a stock trading platform and plans to go public with a staking model tied to corporate equity.
Backpack US added Michael S. Piwowar to its board of directors, former acting chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to an announcement issued by the firm. The appointment aims to strengthen the exchange’s expansion as it seeks to consolidate its presence in the regulated U.S. market.
Piwowar, currently affiliated with Georgetown University, was appointed SEC commissioner by President Barack Obama in 2013 and served in the role until 2018. During the early months of Donald Trump’s first administration, he briefly held the position of acting chair of the agency, between the tenure of Mary Jo White and the arrival of Jay Clayton in 2017. During that period, the SEC rejected the Winklevoss brothers’ application to launch a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, a proposal that had been under review for four years.
We're excited to welcome Dr. Michael S. Piwowar to Backpack US’s Board of Directors.
Dr. Piwowar served as SEC Commissioner from 2013 to 2018 and was later designated Acting Chairman of the SEC by President Trump. He was among the first senior U.S. regulators to publicly engage… pic.twitter.com/Q3QsX3nyLb
— Backpack 🎒 (@Backpack) June 9, 2026
Before his time at the SEC, Piwowar served as chief economist of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, where he led the economic analysis of SEC-related provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act and the JOBS Act. He also served on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers during the global financial crisis of 2008.
Backpack Takes Advantage of New SEC Regulations
The appointment coincides with developments taking place in the United States: the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) authorized Kalshi to offer the first regulated bitcoin perpetual futures contract in the country. Backpack announced plans to expand its perps offering in the U.S., a market where it does not yet operate that product, although it already offers perpetual trading in the European Union.
Mark Wetjen, president of Backpack US and former commissioner and acting director of the CFTC, described the approval as “a defining moment for this market” and noted that coordination between the CFTC and the SEC is a sign of an evolution of the regulatory framework.
Plans to Go Public and a New Corporate Treasury
In early June, Backpack launched a stock trading platform that combines traditional and tokenized assets. The company also indicated that it plans to go public. Its plans further include a corporate treasury backed by 37.5% of its total token supply and a staking model tied to 20% of corporate equity. Founded in 2023 as a Solana wallet by the team behind the Mad Lads NFT collection, Backpack completed a $17 million Series A round in 2024 led by Placeholder VC.
