Solana's Crypto Native Next-Gen CEX | Armani Ferrante

In this episode, Armani, the founder of Backpack, dives into the technical and regulatory hurdles of running an exchange, the vision behind Backpack's product offerings, and the valuable lessons learned from the rise and fall of FTX. He discusses the importance of focusing on the Solana ecosystem, the challenges of expanding into Japan, and the keys to long-term success in crypto. Thanks for tuning in! - - Follow Armani: https://x.com/armaniferrante Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Sei Labs believes the EVM is here to stay. By providing the fastest time to finality of any chain, thousands of transactions per second and full backwards compatibility with the EVM, Ethereum developers can try out a brand new design space for their applications. Try out sei v2 devnet - visit the new sei.io to find out more. - - Avalanche is a smart contracts platform that scales infinitely and regularly finalizes transactions in less than one second. Its novel consensus protocol, Subnet infrastructure, and HyperSDK toolkit enable Web3 developers to easily launch powerful, custom blockchain solutions. Build anything you want, any way you want, on the eco-friendly blockchain designed for Web3 devs. Start building today at https://www.avax.network/ - - Mantle recently launched their airdrop program "Rewards Station" to holders of its native token, $MNT. The Rewards Station program distributes pre-sale token allocations or listed token to $MNT holders who stake their $MNT. Check out the rewards station: https://www.mantle.xyz/rewards-station - - This episode is brought to you by Aura, the AI-powered digital security protection app that keeps your personal information, passwords, online activity, and tech safe from digital threats. It’s all-in-one protection from identity theft, financial fraud, malware, scams, and more. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14-day FREE trial plus up to 55% off an Aura subscription. Visit aura.com/blockworks to sign up for your free trial. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:51) Anchor, MadLads, and Backpack (04:04) Backpack's Exchange Thesis (16:130 Exchanges in Japan (31:08) Sei Ad (32:06) Aura Ad (32:54) Avalanche ad (33:51) Mantle Ad (34:51) The Future of Exchanges (55:36) Why Solana (01:04:15) Lessons Learned from Building (01:17:23) Marker - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.