Backpack, a crypto exchange founded by former employees of FTX, says it will launch a 1-billion-supply token in the future, with its distribution schedule tied to its goal of going public in the US.

Backpack posted to X on Monday that its token launch will begin with 25% of the intended supply, or 250 million tokens, to become available on a yet-to-be-disclosed launch date.

Another 37.5% of the total supply, or 375 million pre-IPO tokens, will be made available “upon achievement of key milestones,” which Ferrante said would include opening in a new region or launching a new product.

The remaining 375 million post-IPO tokens would be locked until a year after the company goes public, with the tokens held strategically in a corporate treasury.

The IPO push comes as Axios reported on Monday that Backpack is in discussions to raise $50 million at a $1 billion pre-money valuation, potentially making it the crypto industry’s latest unicorn.

In a separate post, Backpack co-founder and CEO Armani Ferrante wrote on X on Monday that the “guiding principle” for its token unlocks was that “insiders ‘dumping on retail’ should be impossible.”

Source: Armani Ferrante

Ferrante, an early employee at the FTX-linked Alameda Research, added that none of the Backpack team or investors should gain wealth from the token “until the product hits escape velocity,” which he said would happen when the company launches an initial public offering.

“Going public might happen quickly, it might happen not so quickly, and in fact, it might not happen at all,” Ferrante said. “In any case, we’re going for it.”

Related: Backpack Exchange launches beta testing of prediction market platform

Ferrante said that “not a single founder, executive, team member, or venture investor has been given a direct token allocation,” and that the team instead owns equity in the company.

“It’s not until the company goes public (or has some other type of equity exit event), that the team can earn any wealth from the project,” he added. 

“It’s not until the company has done all the hard work to earn access to those markets that the team can reap the rewards of the value created by the Backpack community from now until then.”

Backpack launched in 2022, and Ferrante co-founded the exchange alongside former FTX. US strategy lead Tristan Yver and former FTX general counsel Can Sun.

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