Multicoin Capital Co-Founder Kyle Samani Joins Backpack US Board of Directors

Kyle Samani, co-founder of Multicoin Capital and one of Solana's earliest major institutional backers, has joined Backpack US's Board of Directors. The appointment was announced September 2 and adds significant venture capital and regulatory experience to the exchange's US governance structure, alongside a pointed signal from Samani that significant product changes are ahead.

From Multicoin Capital to Backpack's Boardroom

Samani co-founded Multicoin Capital in 2017 alongside Tushar Jain, building it into one of crypto's most recognizable thesis-driven funds. Multicoin backed Solana early and held that position through the network's outages and recoveries. That long-duration conviction has aged well: Solana is now the dominant venue for tokenized equities, on-chain derivatives, and institutional stablecoin settlement.

Samani stepped down from Multicoin in February 2026 after nearly a decade, citing a desire to pursue other areas of technology. He has since become Chairman of Forward Industries (Nasdaq: FWDI), a Nasdaq-listed Solana treasury company, and has invested directly in several ecosystem projects.

The Backpack appointment formalizes what had been an investor relationship. "I've had the pleasure of working with @armaniferrante over the last 6 years," Samani wrote on X. "Excited to work much more closely with him over the coming 6."

Armani Ferrante, Backpack's CEO, framed the hire around regulatory depth as much as ecosystem knowledge: "Kyle's deep experience in building and shaping decentralized financial networks, paired with his longstanding advocacy for clear, workable rules for the crypto industry, makes him an ideal addition to our board," according to Backpack's official blog post.

The Governance Logic Behind the Appointment

The hire is not an isolated move. Earlier in 2026, Backpack added Dr. Michael S. Piwowar (a former SEC Commissioner) to its board. The two appointments together give Backpack a board that spans institutional crypto expertise and traditional regulatory experience.

That pairing fits the product. Backpack operates simultaneously as a regulated US securities brokerage (Backpack Securities), a crypto exchange serving more than 150 countries per its own announcement, and a self-custodial wallet. Navigating those layers together, and convincing institutional clients that crypto-native infrastructure meets their compliance standards, requires the kind of credibility a board brings. A term sheet from Multicoin is one kind of commitment; the fund's co-founder sitting in governance meetings is a different level of involvement.

Backpack stated directly on the announcement: "His appointment reflects a shared conviction: the future of global finance will bring institutional risk controls together with the efficiency and transparency of onchain markets."

Samani's own statement from the official blog matched that framing:

What "Huge Things Coming Soon" Signals

The most forward-looking part of the announcement came from Samani's X post rather than the press release. Beyond noting his six-year working relationship with Ferrante, he added: "Backpack has some huge things coming soon. This will reshape the nature of trading, both on and off chain."

He did not specify what those things are. The phrase "both on and off chain" spans the exchange and brokerage layers rather than pointing at either one in isolation. Backpack's current roadmap is already ambitious on both sides. As covered today, the exchange launched four equity perpetual futures markets on September 1 and introduced a unified portfolio margin system that accepts real Micron and SanDisk shares from Backpack Securities as collateral for crypto derivatives positions, the first account to hold licensed brokerage equity and 24/7 on-chain derivatives on a common margin pool without converting shares to tokens.

Samani's "huge things" comment suggests that arc continues.

Backpack's Tokenized Equity Volume and Exchange Scale

As covered in August, Backpack led DEX volume on 6 of 9 tokenized stocks it shares with xStocks in Q2 2026, capturing 87% of SPCX volume and 95% of Micron volume despite holding a fraction of the broader tokenized equity supply. Micron (MU) tokenized shares on Solana now hold 1,930 wallets as of September 2, up from 229 in late June, an 8.4x increase in ten weeks per Solana Compass data. The exchange has recorded over 450 billion dollars in total trading volume across its history.

Multicoin's thesis on Solana was always that the network could support institutional-grade financial infrastructure, not just retail speculation. Backpack is the most advanced live test of that thesis. Having Samani move from the investor side to active board governance, at the point where the exchange is adding equity perpetuals and cross-asset margin, suggests the next phase of that build is close enough to warrant the closer involvement.