Backpack experienced a major purge of “违规积分” (violating points) before the March 23 TGE, with over 50 million points being reclaimed. Compared to other regions, more Chinese-speaking users were affected.
(Background: Backpack exchange officially launched in Q1, with the first wave of rewards distributed to 475,000 users.)
(Additional context: With a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $600 million, what is Backpack, the exchange founded by former FTX executives?)
The Chinese-speaking community in Backpack has exploded.
Early core member Claire posted on March 24, revealing that the Chinese team had a heated discussion the night before with the European and American teams. The issue stemmed from the anti-witch hunt purge before TGE, which affected many Chinese users. Claire stated that the Chinese team “does not want to see the interests of users who supported us be impacted.”
Hello everyone, I am Claire.
First, a brief introduction about myself. I grew up in Beijing and currently handle some administrative tasks within Backpack. Some of you in the Chinese community may find me familiar; as an early team member who speaks Chinese, I actively communicate with users.
The witch hunt issue kept us all up all night—Abao, Traper, Miho, Coco, and others…
— Claire (@CZ101010) March 24, 2026
50 Million Points Vanished, Chinese Users Hit Hardest
During the “Epilogue” phase, Backpack analyzed data and reclaimed over 50 million fake points. All accounts had to complete KYC and verify manually twice before March 15 to retain their points.
The core logic behind BP’s anti-witch hunt is straightforward: a single person, single account is the “absolute bottom line.” However, the problem is that Western and Chinese users have different understandings of “multiple accounts.”
The Western compliance framework is built on strict rule enforcement and high sensitivity to KYC information. Operations beyond their perception are almost automatically deemed witch behavior. Meanwhile, Chinese users have long been accustomed to participating in airdrops with multiple accounts; many do not see this as cheating, but as “normal operation.”
When these two logics clash, more Chinese-speaking users’ points were cleared compared to other regions.
Appeal Channel Opens, Accounts Under 3 Can Get 50%+ Refund
In response to community backlash, Backpack founder Armani Ferrante and the core team quickly launched a remedial plan.
An appeal channel is now open, with clear rules: users who have operated 3 or fewer accounts and are judged to be witches can appeal manually. After verification, they can receive a refund of over 50% of their points.
Regarding token buybacks, the team plans to initiate a dedicated program in the coming days, conducting BP token repurchases on the secondary market to compensate eligible users. Token buyback and compensation is the least common part of this operation—buying back tokens with real money to compensate users is rare in crypto airdrop history.
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