Six months ago we shipped StableStock — a stablecoin-funded broker. Fund with stablecoin, buy real public-market stocks. HK and US equities, settlement on-chain, execution at the exchange.
In April we launch a new product to HK IPO subscription. Stablecoin holders can now subscribe to Hong Kong primary market offerings.
That's the month the thesis stopped being a thesis.
→ $59.4M total volume. 6× than March. 68× our first month.
→ $16M AUM, 3x than March, 6.4× since November.
→ 5000+ Deposit/KYC Users , 4x than March.
The pattern showing up the strong demand of stablecoin holders investment in global securities.
In the next few months, May–June:
→ Stricter KYC. We banned 1,030 high-risk accounts on April. Compliance comes before scale, not after.
→ Margin trading on HK and US equities.
→ iOS + Android app.
Build in public. Next update end of May.
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In the Backpack tokenomics, we have one guiding principle.
- Insiders "dumping on retail" should be impossible: no founder, executive, employee, or venture investor should receive wealth from the token until the product hits escape velocity.
Of course it begs the question, what does it mean to "hit escape velocity". Every project is different, and it's impossible to generalize. For Backpack, the answer is clear: we want to IPO in the USA. Going public might happen quickly, it might happen not so quickly, and in fact, it might not happen at all. In any case, we're going for it.
But before going public, we have to grow--a lot. The odd thing about Backpack's growth over the past year--and in fact one of the things that makes Backpack so different from basically every token project in crypto--is that, today, Backpack Exchange only serves about 48% of the world. We've been very slow, very intentional about opening up our product to the world, ensuring that we have every "i" dotted and ever "t" crossed as a regulated financial institution. Growth that sometimes feels like running with a parachute, but we are happy to take the long path, because it's precisely that parachute that will allow us to fly.
For those that don't know us, the reason for this is simple. Backpack is trying to not only build great crypto products, but we're also trying to build great TradFi products. We're trying to not only give our users access to every crypto asset, every blockchain, and every decentralized application, but we're also getting banking rails around the world, USD client money accounts in the USA, EUR in the EU, JPY in Japan--every currency on every major payment network you can imagine. We're trying to build a great securities product, whether that's getting access to your favorite stocks in a traditional brokerage or bidding on primary shares of a company about to go public on NASDAQ. We want to serve not only retail users worldwide, but we want to serve regulated products for regulated counterparties and regulated institutions around the world. All of this takes an enormous amount of time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears. We've been working on this for over three years at this point, laying an international foundation for the company and for the product slowly but surely, brick by brick. If we're lucky, we'll spend a lifetime.
What this all means is that, in the most literal sense--and I know this sounds silly--we're just getting started. We still have half the world to open up into. We still have some of our most exciting products to launch. And this leads to our next guiding principle in our tokenomics.
- Liquid tokens should exclusively go to users, fueling growth triggered by key product milestones.
Every time we open up a new region, every time we launch a new product, that's an opportunity to grow. Open up EU => grow. Open up Japan => grow. Open up the USA => grow. Open up predictions => grow. Open up stocks => grow. Open up card => grow. Like gasoline onto a fire, the token serves to continuously kickstart new markets in the same way points kickstarted Seasons 1-4.
With every growth lever we pull, tokens unlock in a predictable way to users, bringing in a new wave of token holders, growing the community, and allowing the product to soar to new heights. The objective constraint for this to work is precise: the value of added growth created by new token unlocks must always be greater than the dilution of those unlocks. As long as that condition holds, we can continue to unlock tokens direct to our most active users, growing along the way.
Last but not least is the question:
Ok so if all the liquid tokens are going to users, then what about the team? How exactly do you remain incentive aligned while ensuring the team cannot unlock, dump on retail, and become enormously wealthy without building something great?
And the answer is simple: not a single founder, executive, team member, or venture investor has been given a direct token allocation.
The entire "team allocation" sits in a "corporate treasury", i.e. on the balance sheet of the Backpack company--locked until at least one year post IPO. The team owns equity in the company, and the company owns a large percent of the token supply. 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. It's not until the company has access to the largest, most liquid capital markets in the world by going public--and 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.
We either go big, or we go home.
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@OfficialCSAF Message to the Force
Airmen,
Every day, our Nation depends on the United States Air Force to deter aggression and, if called upon, to fight and win. Meeting that responsibility starts long before we launch aircraft or execute missions. It begins with the high standards we uphold.
Standards are the foundation of discipline and readiness. Consistently holding ourselves accountable builds trust within our formations, reinforces confidence in our teammates, and ensures we are prepared to answer our Nation’s call.
To strengthen our readiness, every Airman must focus on fitness and appearance standards. Start by familiarizing yourself with the updated physical fitness regulation and prepare to meet them. Fitness remains essential to every Airman’s ability to execute the mission under challenging conditions.
The Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR) assessment is an important component of our overall fitness program and provides commanders another tool to understand the readiness and health of the force. You must have a current WHtR assessment uploaded in myBodyComp. Unless medically exempt from the WHtR component, all Airmen must complete this action no later than 31 July 2026 (Active Duty) or 31 August 2026 (ARC members).
Finally, continue to uphold our dress and appearance standards. A professional image reflects discipline, pride, and attention to detail. That same mindset drives excellence across every career field and should be evident in how we present ourselves.
Let’s continue to hold ourselves to the highest standards that make us the world’s most capable Air Force. Thank you for your professionalism and commitment to excellence. Fight’s On!
V/r,
Kenneth S. Wilsbach
General, USAF
Chief of Staff
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