Backpack Exchange has initiated a private beta for a new margin-based prediction market. This feature permits traders to place bets on digital assets and financial outcomes while utilizing the same capital across various products. Currently, it is accessible only to select active traders.
The exchange introduced the Unified Prediction Portfolio, enabling prediction markets to function alongside spot trading, perpetual futures, and lending within a single account. Unlike typical prediction platforms, traders are not required to lock up funds in individual bets. The platform employs cross-margining, allowing the same capital to support multiple positions simultaneously.
Traders can now place a prediction bet on Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency markets, hedge it with a futures contract, and maintain spot positions within one account. This structure aims to reduce the opportunity cost of capital, enabling traders to act on market insights without being sidelined by locked funds.
CEO Armani Ferrante stated the goal is to remove inefficiencies in traditional prediction markets. "Prediction markets are notoriously inefficient. Capital gets locked up and even skilled traders may not act because of the opportunity cost," he said in a post on X. The new system seeks to allow more flexible and active participation.
Backpack Exchange, founded by former FTX employees, acquired FTX EU in January 2025. The deal provided access to a MiFID II-regulated framework and facilitated the recovery of user funds frozen during the 2022 FTX collapse. In September 2025, Backpack Exchange rebranded FTX EU as Backpack EU, with the objective to offer regulated perpetual futures across Europe.
The private beta is currently invite-only, targeting the platform's most active traders. Feedback from this phase will assist in refining risk management before a wider release. The launch occurs as the prediction market sector expands, with platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket reporting billions in trading volume and increasing mainstream visibility. Polymarket recently partnered with Dow Jones and WSJ to share prediction market data.
Backpack's new offering positions it as a vertically integrated exchange where traders can deploy capital efficiently across products. The cross-margined prediction market could indicate a shift in how crypto-based financial betting operates, providing traders with greater flexibility and control over capital.