Backpack Exchange, the Solana-based trading platform founded by former FTX employees, has launched a private beta for its "Unified Prediction Portfolio," a novel product that integrates crypto prediction markets with spot trading, perpetual futures, and lending within a single, cross-margined account. The beta, announced on Tuesday, is initially invite-only and being offered to the platform's most active traders.
The core innovation, as explained by CEO Armani Ferrante, is the breakdown of capital silos that traditionally plague prediction markets. "Prediction markets are notoriously inefficient," Ferrante stated. "You lock up your USD in a prediction, it's stuck there for the duration of an event... you don't make it due to the opportunity cost of capital." Backpack's system uses cross-collateralization, allowing the same pool of capital to support positions across multiple product types simultaneously. This enables a trader to, for example, place a bet on a prediction market, hedge that exposure with a perpetual futures contract, and maintain a spot position—all from one margin account.
Ferrante framed this as part of a broader vision to build a vertically integrated exchange where capital is deployed once and used flexibly. The launch follows a transformative period for Backpack, which acquired FTX EU in January 2025, gaining a MiFID II-regulated framework, and initiated asset recovery for users affected by the 2022 FTX collapse in April 2025.
The prediction markets sector itself has seen explosive growth, with platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket reporting billions in monthly trading volume. Backpack's integration arrives as prediction markets gain mainstream visibility, highlighted by Polymarket's partnership with the 2026 Golden Globes awards. The Backpack team will use the private beta to gauge market response and refine its risk engine before a broader public rollout.
