Backpack, the crypto exchange founded by former FTX employees, has launched Backpack Securities, a platform that blends traditional and tokenized stock trading.
According to an announcement on Tuesday, the new platform will enable users to buy, hold, and sell real U.S. stocks through regulated brokerage infrastructure while also converting those holdings into tokenized versions that can move freely across blockchain networks.
“Real equity ownership and blockchain-native access are not competing models; they are two parts of the same financial system,” Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante said in a statement. “We have spent three years building the foundation for this, and are excited to release Backpack Securities to our users.”
The move comes as centralized exchanges in and out of the U.S. continue to add products like yield, derivatives, payments, prediction markets, and tokenized stocks amid a friendlier regulatory environment. This includes major U.S. providers like Coinbase and Kraken, global players like Binance and OKX, as well as DEXes like Hyperliquid and Lighter.
Robinhood, best known more for its traditional brokerage services, has also launched an Arbitrum-based initiative to offer hundreds of tokenized U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds. Tokenization allows these assets greater market flexibility, including wider trading hours, easier fractionalization, and integrations with DeFi.
