Cryptocurrency exchange Backpack’s China social media team announced on Oct. 11 that it will compensate users affected by the market’s flash crash earlier on Friday.
In a now-deleted post on its China X (formerly Twitter) account, the exchange said maintaining user trust remains its “top priority.” The company also posted that it will compensate traders for liquidation-related losses,
Backpack’s China handle said that 200 KFC meal vouchers will be given to users who suffered the largest losses, redeemable via an official form.
As per Google Translate of the post:
“We hope to bring a bit of warmth to the community during this difficult period. We have prepared 200 KFC meal sets, which will be given to users who suffered significant losses during this liquidation, as a gesture of goodwill.”
TheStreet Roundtable has reached out to both KFC and Backpack for comment but has not received a response as of publication.
Related: Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante says centralized exchanges are ‘safest’ path to self-custody
Backpack founder Armani Ferrante addressed the viral post, clarifying that Backpack runs several locally managed regional accounts worldwide, none of which are overseen directly by him or the Backpack marketing team.
Ferrante described the Chinese post, which offered KFC meals to users affected by the market crash, as “absurd” and “in extremely bad taste.” He added that it did not represent Backpack.
While the post gained traction online, he said it was a serious misstep rather than a joke.
“I hate the tweet. It’s tempting to want to laugh about it. But this isn’t a laughing matter to me. It went viral,” he wrote.
However, while Backpack and Ferrante showed their disapproval of the post, the community manager of Mad Lads, Backpack’s NFT collection, shared a meme joking about a potential KFC-Backpack partnership.
On Oct. 11, President Donald Trump announced a new 100% tariff on Chinese goods, triggering a steep selloff.
Over $19 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated across exchanges. Major crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase also faced major outages as traders rushed to exit their positions.
Backpack also experienced a heavy load on its system. Later, Ferrante shared the wallet’s daily Proof of Reserves to reassure its users amid the market frenzy.
In the past 24 hours, major cryptocurrencies have shown steady rebound after the crash and confusion of the weekend.
Bitcoin (BTC) climbed 2.6% in the past 24 hours to trade above $114,600. Ethereum (ETH) also recovered by 7.4%, changing hands at $4,109, according to Kraken’s price feeds.
XRP surged 6.8% in 24 hours while Solana (SOL) jumped nearly 6%.
