Backpack US appoints Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani to board

Backpack US just added some serious firepower to its boardroom. Kyle Samani, co-founder of Multicoin Capital and one of the earliest investors in Solana, has joined the company’s board of directors as Backpack pushes deeper into the US market with a hybrid model that blends traditional brokerage services with tokenized equity trading.

The appointment, announced on September 2, 2026, comes roughly two months after Samani made what has been described as his largest angel investment in the company. It also follows his decision to step back from active roles at Multicoin Capital earlier this year, freeing him up for exactly this kind of strategic involvement.

From angel investor to board member

Samani’s trajectory with Backpack has been quick. He made a significant personal investment in the firm in July 2026, and now sits on the board tasked with guiding the platform’s US expansion.

CEO Armani Ferrante pointed to Samani’s expertise in DeFi and regulatory affairs as a key reason for the appointment. For a platform trying to operate a compliance-first framework while simultaneously enabling on-chain tokenization, those are not exactly niche skills.

This isn’t Backpack’s first strategic hire this year, either. In March 2026, the company brought on Mark Wetjen, a former Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as President of Backpack US.

What Backpack is actually building

The platform’s core pitch is that users can trade real US stocks, not synthetic versions or derivatives, through a regulated brokerage. Names like SpaceX (SPCX), Micron (MU), and SanDisk (SNDK) are available on the platform, with standard 24/5 trading hours through regulated channels.

Where it gets interesting is the tokenization layer. Select equities can be converted on a 1:1 basis into tokenized versions that live on the Solana blockchain. Those tokenized shares can then be traded 24/7 and are compatible with DeFi protocols, meaning users could potentially use them as collateral or integrate them into broader on-chain strategies.

The key distinction Backpack draws is ownership. Unlike synthetic products that merely track a stock’s price, the platform claims to offer real ownership of US equities, complete with rights to dividends and corporate actions. The securities business operates under New York UCC Article 8, the legal framework governing regulated equities trading.

The tokenized security platform launched in public beta around mid-2026.