Mad News: April 2026
The aftermath; 3 years anniversary
March 23rd, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC. The Backpack token (BP) became tradable!
A clear before and after. The path versus the road. A day filled with emotions, price volatility, and of course… FUD
In this April edition, we’ll mainly cover what happened around the TGE, what followed in the days after, and what are the next steps. We will also take a look where things started…. the Mad Lads collection and community
Beyond Backpack, April was also marked by a much heavier global context. Rising tensions escalated into conflict between the United States and Iran, with Israel involved, leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (a key route for global oil supply). The impact was immediate, with oil prices surging and affecting economies worldwide. At the time of writing, no peace deal has been reached, and the situation remains uncertain…
As if that wasn’t enough, Drift Protocol on Solana was hit by a $230M hack, with all funds reportedly drained. The impact was felt across the ecosystem, leaving many users facing major losses. As a key pillar of Solana DeFi, Drift was deeply integrated into multiple dApps, amplifying the ripple effects of the incident…
For once, instead of highlighting the usual presence of Lads across the world and the crypto space, we’ll take a different path. Buckle up, this edition goes into some more serious and uncomfortable topics… but it’s one you’ll want to read until the end… especially since Mad Lads celebrated their 3 years anniversay!
Backpack TGE
On March 23, 2026, Backpack officially launched their TGE and introduced the BP token on Solana
At launch, 25% of the total supply (1 billion BP) was unlocked immediately, equivalent to 250 million tokens. Of this:
24% went to points holders
1% went to Mad Lads holders
Importantly, no founders, employees, or venture investors received direct token allocations at TGE
This part? You probably already knew it if you did read the Mad News March edition. So let’s look at what happened
Airdrop Controversies & Community Reaction
Despite strong technical execution, the airdrop process became one of the most debated aspects of the launch. While the goal was to ensure a clean and fair distribution, several key issues fueled community frustration:
Strict anti-Sybil filtering, which excluded many users who believed they qualified
Inconsistent eligibility perceptions, especially among long-term traders and NFT holders
Community backlash around fairness and transparency of distribution logic
Armani addressed this matter with a transparent statement:
Our goal was to protect retail users competing for points against sophisticated players splitting accounts and giving themselves an unfair advantage over those that don’t. The mistake we made: our process was too black and white. From the team’s point of view, we had a line and we stuck to it. From the community’s point of view, the line is nuanced. We did not sufficiently take that into consideration
FDV Controversy
One of the primary source of “FUD” at launch was the FDV. Before the token went live, markets on Polymarket predicted an FDV between $100M and $200M, roughly mirroring Backpack’s strategic Series A valuation of $120M
The token launched with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. Because the initial trading price hovered between $0.20 and $0.28 in the first few hours:
Initial FDV Range: Approximately $200 million to $280 million
Current FDV: Approximately $150 million
The “Underwater” problem
Data following the TGE suggested that the average cost per point for most users (based on trading fees and volume generated to earn the airdrop) was approximately $0.20. When the token’s price failed to hold the $0.20 level, it meant that the vast majority of participants were immediately “underwater” or at a net loss relative to the capital they spent to earn the tokens. This led to a wave of disappointment across social media, as the highly anticipated “reward” for loyalty felt more like a costly trade
DISCLAIMER: It’s important to clarify that this $0.20 figure isn't an "exact math" formula or an official metric. It’s a crowdsourced computation derived from community data. While it isn't an exact science, it served as a benchmark for sentiment
One Month Later
After now a month, the market has entered a period of consolidation. The token is currently sitting in the $0.14 – $0.16 range, finding a floor after the initial post-TGE volatility
Despite the early price frustration, the community’s long-term commitment remains surprisingly high. A massive 50% of the circulating $BP is currently locked in staking!
It is important to note that un-staking carries a 7-day cooldown period at the moment
What’s next
The real test for Backpack will be the transition from a “points-farming” destination to a sustainable, high-volume exchange. The roadmap ahead is packed with catalysts that could shift the narrative:
Expanding the Product Suite: Full rollout of Backpack Prediction Markets and the Backpack Card
Global Footprint: Strategic expansion into Japan and the United States
On-Chain IPO: Moving traditional IPO process onto the blockchain
With 50% of the supply staked, the community is clearly betting on this “IPO narrative” promised by the team. If Backpack can successfully launch these products and plant its flag in the US and Japanese markets, the initial TGE turbulence may eventually be seen as a minor footnote in a much larger story
Backpack News
New Listing
Not only did Backpack have its TGE in March, but EdgeX did as well, which means we got a new listing on the exchange:
EDGE (EdgeX)
Another coin previously limited to spot trading has entered the perps arena. Trade PAXG on Backpack with
10× spot margin | 50× perps
Convert with zero fees
Lend, borrow, and stay liquid
Earn on collateral and unrealised PnL
Promotion
Nathan Smith, who has been working at Backpack for nearly two years, was recently promoted to COO (Chief Operating Officer). MAD CONGRATZ!
For those who may not know, Nathan did not start in crypto recently. He entered the space in early 2021 by joining Coinbase as a Staff Software Engineer
At Backpack, he played a key role in building and scaling both the exchange and the wallet from the ground up, and will now be leading operations moving forward!
More to read: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/backpack-appoints-nathan-smith-as-chief-operating-officer-302733431.html
Recent updates
During early April, Backpack quietly shipped several updates, including:
Grid Trading Bots upgrade (web)
Reverse Position button (web)
Backpack token staking now available on mobile
Multiple TP/SL improvements
Performance and usability enhancements
Oklahoma is the 18th American State added to Backpack
Backpack Japan Community Event
We all know that Backpack has been strongly focused on expanding into Japan and bringing modern finance to the region
Recently, a community event took place where attendees could share food, pick up exclusive merch, and spend time chatting with the team in a more personal setting
Quests
A new quest is now available: "Trade & Share"
Simply trade on any market to earn your share of $50,000 in rewards!
Boosted yield
Backpack just dropped Boosted USD Yield, their newest perk for $BP stakers and VIPs
Depending on your level, you can snag an extra 0.5% to 3.0% APY on USD lending pushing your total APY as high as 7%!
Drift Hack
The Drift Protocol hack on April 1, 2026, was not an “April Fool’s” prank (sadly), but a cold, calculated strike that now stands as the largest DeFi exploit of 2026 and the second-largest in Solana’s history
Below is a breakdown of the $285M heist that sent shockwaves through the ecosystem
Numbers
Total Loss: Approximately $285 Million
TVL Impact: Drift’s Total Value Locked plummeted by over 50% (from ~$550M to under $250M)
DRIFT Token: The price crashed nearly 40% in the 24 hours following the confirmation
Primary Assets Stolen: 41.7M JLP ($155M), USDC ($71.4M), plus significant amounts of cbBTC, SOL, and WETH
The Attack Vector
This wasn't a bug in the smart contract code; it was a sophisticated social engineering and governance attack likely perpetrated by DPRK-linked actors (Lazarus Group)
The attackers spent months building trust with Drift contributors, posing as a quantitative trading firm. They provided helpful code and engaged deeply with the team to lower their guard
The Technical Execution
Fake Collateral (The CVT Token): Attackers created a worthless token called CarbonVote Token (CVT). They wash-traded it to create a fake price history of ~$1. Drift’s oracles eventually picked this up as legitimate collateral
Durable Nonce Abuse: Attackers used Solana’s “durable nonce” feature, which allows transactions to be pre-signed and executed much later [c.f. https://solana.com/developers/guides/advanced/introduction-to-durable-nonces]
Governance Takeover: Through social engineering (likely malicious code repositories or “blind signing” of transactions that looked routine), the attackers compromised the Security Council multisig (2-of-5 threshold)
The Drain: On April 1, they triggered the pre-signed transactions to whitelist CVT as collateral, deposited millions of it, and used the “value” to withdraw $285M
Ecosystem-wide Consequences
As Drift serves as the “liquidity backbone” for numerous Solana strategies, the ripple effect of the exploit was devastating for integrated protocols such as Reflect, Neutral Trade, DeFi Carrots and much more
Beyond the affected protocols and the loss of user funds, several broader global issues were brought to light such as
Governance Crisis: The hack sparked an industry-wide debate on “Security Councils” and the dangers of low-threshold multisigs (2-of-5) without timelocks [
The “Laundering” Speed: Within hours, the attackers swapped the haul into USDC and moved it to Ethereum via Circle’s CCTP, proving that even “frozen” assets are hard to catch if the attackers are fast enough
Tether to the rescue
Fifteen days after the exploit, Tether executed what might be one of the best business moves of the year: launching a $150M recovery plan alongside the Solana Foundation to support the relaunch of Drift
This is a massive strategic move for Tether, generating significant goodwill and once again proving their commitment to the Solana ecosystem
What does it mean?
The deal comes with a major shift: upon relaunch, Drift will migrate from $USDC to $USDT as its primary settlement layer
The recovery plan includes a $100M revenue-linked credit facility. Crucially, this is designed to address the ~$295M in user losses over time through protocol earnings, rather than providing an immediate, lump-sum repayment
TLDR: Users hit by the exploit are now essentially “long” on Drift’s comeback. Their repayment depends entirely on the protocol regaining its volume and users
Conclusion
The days following the hack have seen the CT community on high alert as several other security crises emerged:
The DPRK Insider Threat: Multiple projects revealed they unknowingly had DPRK-related developers in their ranks
Squads Address-Poisoning: Users of the Squads multisig are currently being targeted by sophisticated address-poisoning attacks designed to trick them into mistake
Kraken Extortion: A criminal group is reportedly pressuring Kraken, threatening to leak sensitive customer data unless a ransom is paid
Polkadot Hyperbridge Exploit: An attack on the Hyperbridge system allowed for the minting of 1 billion fake DOT tokens on Ethereum, causing localized market panic
Kelp DAO’s rsETH Bridge Exploit: A massive $293M exploit of the rsETH bridge has triggered a wave of bad debt, causing the $AAVE token to plunge more than 20%
WLFI Controversy: Justin Sun has publicly alleged that the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) venture contains “backdoor” functions to freeze user assets, leading to labels of it being a “4D scam”
The crypto space is currently under unprecedented security pressure. The rise of AI-driven exploit hunting is making it easier for bad actors to find vulnerabilities, reminding us that in 2026, security is no longer a “set and forget” feature but it’s a constant battle
Mad Lads
3 MAD Birthdays
Mad Lads celebrated their 3rd birthday!
I could write thousands of words about this (especially given my love for the project) but I’ll keep it simple: MAD FOCKING BIRTHDAY!
Floor and perks
A wise man once said: “You only care about the price of an asset if you are looking to sell it.”
While there is truth in that, Thorstein Veblen already pointed out back in 1899 something slightly different: that certain goods can become more desirable precisely because their price is high. This concept is now known as Veblen goods.
So where does this lead us?
Simply put, it’s important to acknowledge that seeing prices go down is never pleasant for anyone. The reasons behind it are multi-layered. The speculation around the airdrop has now faded, meaning some participants who were primarily here for that narrative have exited. At the same time, Backpack made a deliberate decision to remove unsustainable incentives such as VIP1 distribution for new Mad Lads purchases, meaning only holders who had VIP status prior to the snapshot retain it. This naturally reduced one of the perks that previously helped support higher demand
We also have to consider the broader context. Mad Lads are approaching their third anniversary, having been born in a bear market, and now finding themselves once again in a market environment where NFTs are simply not in favor…
In short, recent price action and the removal of certain perks are not easy to absorb for anyone involved. However, they should be seen as part of a longer-term strategy rather than a short-term signal
On the positive side, Backpack remains one of the strongest and most ambitious projects in the space. And the Mad Lads community now has the opportunity to evolve beyond price action alone, and focus on building something deeper than just “a JPEG with a high floor”
Stay MAD!
Lads spotted
If you’re an avid reader, you already know how important I believe real-life presence is for a collection like Mad Lads, and this video is a perfect example
You might think, “it’s just a bomber jacket,” but in reality, it’s a real flex to spot a Lad at an esports trading competition like this
Think this is getting too serious for the Mad Lads? Watch our newest member, Mibu, flexing it at the club last night
New Community Manager
Over two years ago, on March 11th, 2024, Mad Vincent stepped in as Community Manager during a time when the community needed direction and energy. He took on the role, led through both highs and lows, and helped shape the Mad Lads community we know today
Almost exactly two years later, on April 1st, 2026, a new chapter begins. Mad Coach has stepped in as Community Manager, while Mad Vincent remains part of the team in a new role
For those who have been around long enough, the situation feels familiar. The community recently expressed a need for renewed energy, stronger engagement, and a clearer presence. Just like back then, it was time for a shift
First, a big thank to Mad Vincent. His contribution over the past two years has been huge, and despite the ups and downs, what truly stands out is everything he built and carried forward. We’re glad he’s still around and now able to focus on new areas
And now, it’s time to welcome Mad Coach. Bringing fresh ideas, structure, and momentum, Coach is already making an impact and setting the tone for what comes next. A new era begins and we’re excited to see where it leads!
Discord Spring Cleanup
With the arrival of Coach, a lot of community feedback has been taken into account and implemented
Coach also brought in some great ideas and gave the Discord a much-needed cleanup with a clearer and more organized structure:
MAD HQ - everything related to announcements
MAD CITY - chat channels, NFT trading, and general community discussions
MAD SKILL - creative channels and forums (DeFi strategy, macro, feedback & ideas)
MAD REWARDS - all whitelist giveaways and reward-related content
MAD WORLD - regional channels
VOICE CHANNELS - for live discussions
INFO - useful links and sales bot
A solid upgrade that makes the server easier to navigate and more enjoyable for everyone
Mad Poker Series
Coach also introduced a brand new type of event: the Mad Poker Series. A series of poker tournaments featuring partner NFT collections from across the ecosystem
Whether you’re a beginner, a seasoned player, or somewhere in between, you’re guaranteed to have a great time playing poker with the Lads and our friends from the ecosystem
The first contender? Geckos from GGSG
And rumor has it… there might be some merch up for grabs 👀
PODCAST CORNER 🎙️
Mr Shift x Armani Ferrante - Your broker holds your stocks. Backpack lets you use them
Armani Ferrante x Solana - Backpack TGE
Thanks for taking the time to read this post, we really appreciate it!
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