Backpack, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by former employees of Alameda Research and the defunct FTX, is entering prediction markets with an ambitious plan to unify balances from different types of trading.
The exchange has launched private beta testing for its new platform, called the Unified Prediction Portfolio, Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante said in a post on X on Tuesday.
“This isn’t yet another wrapper over Kalshi, Polymarket, or any other prediction market platform,” Ferrante wrote, describing the forthcoming market as a “native system with everything tokenized and risk profiled, together.”
Backpack’s move comes as major industry platforms, including Polymarket, face scrutiny over insider trading and heightened regulatory attention, underscoring growing uncertainty about prediction markets.
“Prediction markets are notoriously inefficient,” Ferrante says
Detailing Backpack’s upcoming prediction market platform, the CEO said the platform would allow users to deploy capital not just in a single prediction, but across all of Backpack “without fragmenting balances” while maintaining other positions.
“Prediction markets are notoriously inefficient,” Ferrante said, adding that users often have to lock up funds for the duration of an event, limiting flexibility and potential returns.
Backpack is designed to let users quote on price predictions, get filled and immediately hedge on perpetual contracts — all within a single margin account, he said.
Ferrante added that initial testing will be invite-only and will focus on ensuring the unified portfolio and its risk engine function. The beta will gradually expand, adding new features, more markets and mechanisms unique to a fully integrated system.
The announcement did not specify which markets will be available at launch or how the platform will ensure regulatory compliance, amid growing scrutiny of prediction markets and recent US congressional attention on insider trading in political wagers.
Related: Ukraine blocks Polymarket, classifies prediction markets as gambling
Cointelegraph reached out to Backpack for comment on these questions, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
With its move into prediction markets, Backpack joins a growing list of crypto platforms entering the sector. Coinbase launched a prediction market site in partnership with major platform Kalshi in November 2025, while MetaMask previously partnered with Polymarket to allow users to trade predictions directly from its self-custodial wallet.
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