Backpack

Provider by region EU Trek Labs Europe Ltd, "Trek Technologies" SIA UAE Trek Labs Ltd FZE US Trek Labs, Inc.

About Backpack: legal entities, licences and history

Risk warning. Not financial advice. Crypto is highly volatile and may drop in value significantly. You may lose the amounts you invest and your investments do not benefit from any form of financial protection.

Backpack, also known as Backpack Exchange, is provided by several companies rather than one: Trek Labs Europe Ltd (CySEC 273/15) and "Trek Technologies" SIA (MiCA CASP) in the EU, Trek Labs Ltd FZE (VARA VL/23/07/001) in Dubai, Trek Labs, Inc. (FinCEN MSB) in the US and Trek Brokerage Services Limited for stock brokerage. The wallet company was incorporated in April 2022 and the exchange in March 2023.

See the five companiesBackpack security and proof of reserves

The companies behind Backpack

CySEC, VARA and ESMA registers read 11 Oct 2026

Companies that provide Backpack services, with regulator, number and register link
Company and jurisdictionCompany no.Regulator and statusLicence or registrationDateRegisterLast verified
Trek Labs Europe Ltd
Cyprus		335683Licensed by CySEC as a Cyprus Investment Firmlicence no. 273/15CySEC register entry
"Trek Technologies" SIA
Latvia		not statedAuthorised as a crypto-asset service provider by Latvijas Banka under MiCALEI 6488C2PNI17093U2YA18
no licence number published		ESMA interim MiCA register
Trek Labs Ltd FZE
Dubai, UAE		not statedLicensed by VARA for Exchange Services, spot trading onlylicence no. VL/23/07/001
CMA registration no. CMA-VASP-1000000-0004		VARA public register (search "Trek Labs")
Trek Labs, Inc.
United States		not statedRegistered with FinCEN as a Money Services Businessregistration no. 31000339714338
NMLS ID 2665675		not statedFinCEN MSB registrant search (no entry link)Not checked on the register. Backpack's statement, read
Trek Brokerage Services Limited
Anjouan		not statedLicensed by the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority, in the wording of the live stock pagesnot shownnot statednot locatedNot checked on a register. Backpack's statement, read
Group parent, and the contracting company outside the EU, UAE and US
not named		No Backpack page and no register that was read names this company.

How to read the table: rows dated 11 October 2026 were checked that day on the regulator's own register (the CySEC entry, the VARA public register and the ESMA interim MiCA register). The FinCEN and Anjouan rows repeat Backpack's own statements, read on 6 October 2026, and were not checked on a register. "Not stated" means the value appears on no Backpack page and on no register that was read.

The licences page sets out the same companies product by product and region by region: full licence and registration details.

Last reviewed

What each licence covers and what it does not

No single licence covers every product in every country. Each paragraph below says what one company's licence or registration covers and where it stops. The numbers, dates and register links are in the table above.

Trek Labs Europe Ltd EU

Trek Labs Europe Ltd is licensed by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) as a Cyprus Investment Firm, licence no. 273/15, dated 23 April 2015. The licence covers investment services under MiFID II. Backpack describes it as the legal basis for perpetual futures offered through the CySEC firm in the EU. The register entry shows the trade name Backpack EU, the approved domain eu.backpack.exchange and the previous name FTX EU Ltd. Spot crypto services in the EU come from a different company, and the stock brokerage is not provided under this licence.

"Trek Technologies" SIA EU

"Trek Technologies" SIA is authorised as a crypto-asset service provider by Latvijas Banka under MiCA, with an authorisation date of 27 May 2026. The ESMA interim MiCA register lists five services: custody and administration of crypto-assets, exchange of crypto-assets for funds, exchange for other crypto-assets, execution of orders and transfer services. Lending is not among them. The register row names 29 countries: 26 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Hungary is not in the list. Backpack also says the company holds a Payment Institution licence granted by Latvijas Banka on the same date; that licence was not checked on a register.

Trek Labs Ltd FZE UAE

Trek Labs Ltd FZE is licensed by Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for Exchange Services, VASP Licence VL/23/07/001, issued 30 October 2023 and shown as active on the register. The licence covers spot trading for UAE residents onboarded by this company. According to the company's own VARA disclosure, it does not cover futures or margin trading, which are therefore not available in the UAE, and it does not extend to any other company that uses the Backpack Exchange brand.

Trek Labs, Inc. US

Trek Labs, Inc. states that it is registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a Money Services Business, registration no. 31000339714338, and lists NMLS ID 2665675. A FinCEN registration is not a licence: with few exceptions, FinCEN requires every money services business to register with the US Treasury. State money transmitter licences are separate. Backpack's list of them includes California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois and Iowa, and shows several states as coming soon.

Trek Brokerage Services Limited Stocks

The live stock pages, as served to an EU address, name Trek Brokerage Services Limited as intermediary broker and describe it as licensed by the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority. No licence number is shown. This is the company behind stock brokerage through Trek Brokerage Services Limited. The brokerage is not provided under the CySEC, MiCA or VARA licences.

Lending and other regions

No source names the company that provides the lending and borrowing markets in any region. For clients outside the EU, the UAE and the US, no Backpack page names a contracting company; the last row of the table marks that gap. Nothing on this page should be read as a licence for a product or a country that is not named in it.

Leadership roles

roles only

  • Chief Executive OfficerThe founder. Name and credentials supplied by the owner.
  • Chief Technology OfficerName and credentials supplied by the owner.
  • President of Backpack USName and credentials supplied by the owner.
  • Chief Compliance OfficerName and credentials supplied by the owner.
  • Chief Operating OfficerName and credentials supplied by the owner.

This concept page shows the five roles without names, biographies or photographs. The named leadership team is on the live Backpack About page.

How Backpack earns revenue

Trading fees are the only source of revenue documented on the Backpack pages read for this page. Spot and perpetual futures trades carry maker and taker fees, set by tier, and the tiers follow 30-day trading volume: the published fee tiers give every rate.

Other income, such as a share of lending rates, spreads or token-related income, is not described in the sources read, so it is not listed here. This page prints no revenue or valuation figure.

History: 2022 to 2026

source: Backpack About page, read 6 Oct 2026

Apr 2022
Backpack Wallet is incorporated.
Nov 2022
Backpack loses 88% of its corporate treasury on FTX.
Mar 2023
Backpack Exchange is incorporated.
Apr 2023
The Mad Lads NFT collection launches on Solana.
Nov 2023
Backpack Exchange opens in beta.
Feb 2024
Series A funding round. The About page names no investor.
Mar 2024
Backpack reports more than 500,000 fully verified users.
May 2024
Backpack reports 150+ countries and $60B in trading volume.
Jan 2025
Futures open in public beta.
May 2025
Backpack reports $100B in cumulative trading volume.
Sep 2025
Backpack EU launches under the MiFID II licence of Trek Labs Europe Ltd (CySEC licence no. 273/15). Backpack says funds went back to 110K former FTX EU clients.
Oct 2025
Partnership with Superstate on tokenized public equities.
Jan 2026
Grid trading bots launch. The Unified Prediction Portfolio opens in private beta.
Feb 2026
Backpack reports more than $400B in cumulative volume and announces a tokenomics model.
Mar 2026
The BP token launches.
Jun 2026
Backpack Securities opens in public beta with US stocks and ETFs. Tokenized securities launch on Solana, convertible 1:1 with security entitlements.

Every entry is Backpack's own statement on its About page, including the two that concern FTX. None was checked against an outside source. Licence dates come from the registers and are in the table above.

Security and assurance

Backpack says it publishes a proof of reserves every day, verified by OtterSec, and reconciles balances internally every 10 minutes. It also says client assets are kept apart from the platform's own assets.

Proof of reserves
daily
Verifier named
OtterSec
Covers
spot balances, margin positions, unrealised PnL

A proof of reserves describes one day and does not remove market risk. The evidence, and what is still unpublished, is on the page about Backpack security and proof of reserves.

Figures we publish and their dates

Cumulative trading volume$400B+Backpack About page timeline, February 2026
Countries150+Backpack About page timeline, May 2024

No transaction count is printed. Backpack's own pages show three different figures, so the count waits for one confirmed number and its date.

Editorial standards, contact and complaints

The editorial policy sets out how pages are sourced, dated, reviewed and corrected. If something on this page is wrong or out of date, the routes below are the way to say so.

Check the licences yourself

The licences page gives each company's number, what its licence covers and a link to the regulator's own register.

Check every licence on the register