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Backpack Welcomes Mark Wetjen as President of Backpack US
We're excited to welcome Mark Wetjen as President of Backpack US.
Wetjen joins Backpack at a pivotal moment. The conditions to build regulated, onchain financial infrastructure in the United States are beginning to align, and the opportunity to build durable crypto market infrastructure has never been clearer. As we continue expanding globally, the U.S. remains the most important market we have yet to fully unlock.
With Wetjen joining the team, we are taking the next step toward bringing Backpack to the U.S. market.
Who Is Mark Wetjen?
Wetjen brings decades of experience at the intersection of financial regulation, market structure, and digital assets.
He previously served as Commissioner and Acting Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency responsible for overseeing futures and derivatives markets in the United States. Beyond his government service, Wetjen held senior leadership roles at major financial market institutions, including Head of Global Public Policy at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and CEO of MIAX Futures, a CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange.
He was also among the earliest U.S. regulators to publicly advocate for clearer regulatory frameworks and market infrastructure for crypto assets, well before the issue became a mainstream policy discussion.
Why Wetjen, Why Now?
The U.S. regulatory environment is shifting. Participation from traditional financial institutions is increasing, and policy expectations around compliance and market structure are becoming clearer. For the first time in years, building regulated crypto infrastructure in the United States feels less like a gamble and more like a foundation.
Wetjen understands both sides of that equation. He has sat at the regulatory table, helped shape derivatives policy, and led the development of exchange infrastructure. Just as importantly, he recognized the potential of digital assets long before the topic became a mainstream policy discussion.
That combination of regulatory credibility, institutional experience, and early conviction in digital assets is exactly what this moment requires.
Backpack has spent the past three years building toward this opportunity. The jurisdictions we entered, the licenses we secured, and the compliance frameworks we built were all steps in preparing for the U.S. market. Wetjen does not just fit that mission. He represents the next phase of it.
What Backpack Has Built
Backpack did not arrive at this moment by accident.
Since launching in 2023, we have built a regulated global cryptocurrency exchange serving users across more than 150 countries and regions, with over $426 billion in total trading volume to date.
Our regulatory foundation spans multiple jurisdictions. We hold a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), a MiFID II license in Europe through our acquisition of FTX Europe, and Money Transmitter Licenses across several U.S. states, with additional applications underway.
Transparency is built directly into our infrastructure. Our proof-of-reserves system uses zero-knowledge proofs and updates continuously, allowing users to verify exchange reserves in real time every day.
Not quarterly. Not annually. Every day.
That is the standard we hold ourselves to. And it is the standard we are bringing to the United States.
The Road to the United States
This is the beginning, not the finish line.
Wetjen’s appointment marks the start of a new chapter for Backpack in the United States. We are establishing a U.S. presence, building local teams, and working toward launching compliant products for American users.
Every day, people reach out asking when Backpack will be available to them in the U.S. We hear you. We are working on it, state by state, license by license, brick by brick.
The U.S. market deserves crypto infrastructure built on the right foundations. Infrastructure that is regulated, transparent, and designed to last.
That is what we are building. And this is only the beginning.
