Backpack goes live with 24/7 US equity trading for global investors

Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante appeared on CNBC on Friday to announce the crypto-native brokerage has launched 24/7 trading of real U.S. equities for international investors, starting with Micron Technology, SanDisk and SpaceX.

"Markets will close on Friday in the US. And over the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, people through the Backpack brokerage will continue to trade," Ferrante said on the segment. "They'll get the exact same asset that you would expect from your brokerage account."

Unlike synthetic derivatives offered by most overseas platforms, Backpack provides genuine security entitlements — investors hold full ownership of the underlying equities, backed by traditional exchange liquidity. The platform supports funding via fiat currencies or stablecoins, with instant settlement and continuous price discovery. Micron, the first name listed, posted fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $41.456 billion, a 345.7 percent year-over-year jump, with non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 and GAAP gross margin of 84.6 percent. SanDisk reported 251 percent YoY revenue growth, with its datacenter segment surging 645 percent.

The launch marks a structural shift in how international investors access U.S. equity markets. Ferrante drew a parallel to stablecoins, which have become major holders of U.S. Treasuries globally by providing frictionless dollar exposure. "When you look internationally, it's a very different story. It's a story about access," he said. Backpack, which serves users from more than 150 countries and has processed over $450 billion in trading volume, also supports tokenized versions of these equities on Solana, allowing wallet-to-wallet transfers and DeFi compatibility. Its tokenized SpaceX equity became the most liquid and highest-volume tokenized SpaceX offering traded on-chain last month, underscoring demand for direct access to one of the most anticipated IPOs in history.

The move pressures traditional brokerages to reconsider their 5 p.m. Friday closing bells and T+1 settlement cycles. Backpack's model — combining a regulated brokerage (Backpack Securities) with a tokenization platform — creates a single gateway for international investors to trade U.S. equities around the clock. The company plans to add more equities in the coming months.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.