Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author | Ding Dong (@XiaMiPP)

In the eyes of most, there seems to always be an insurmountable gap between the cryptocurrency industry and the U.S. regulatory system.

On one side are the tech pioneers continuously breaking boundaries, believing that code can rewrite financial rules, pushing the limits of the system time and again; on the other side are the regulators tasked with safeguarding order and stability, using caution and rules as shields to protect the bottom line of the financial system.

In the past decade, these two forces have clashed fiercely at times, compromised briefly at others, always moving forward in a delicate tension.

But there are some who happen to stand on this boundary line, like Mark Wetjen.

He has worked in the U.S. financial regulatory system for nearly twenty years: from serving as a policy advisor for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to being nominated by President Obama as a commissioner for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and even serving as acting chairman in 2014. At that time, Wall Street still largely held a wait-and-see or even skeptical attitude towards Bitcoin, while he had already spearheaded and facilitated the first formal hearing on digital assets in U.S. regulatory history within the CFTC. Looking back now, that openness and foresight towards emerging technologies was particularly precious and lonely at the time.

More than a decade later, this former policymaker who once sat at the regulatory seat chose to turn around and step into the cryptocurrency world. Now, he has joined the crypto trading platform Backpack, serving as President of Backpack US, responsible for operations management, regulatory communication, and business development in the U.S. market.

At this moment, Backpack is also at a new critical juncture. The platform's native token's TGE is expected to take place on March 23. As the token issuance approaches, Backpack is notably accelerating its global market compliance layout, regarding the U.S. market as the most important strategic focus for the next stage.

In this context, Odaily Planet Daily was fortunate to have an in-depth and candid conversation with Mark Wetjen.

This dialogue is not just a personal turnaround story of a regulatory veteran; it also acts as a mirror, reflecting the quiet yet profound changes in the U.S. regulatory environment and the cryptocurrency industry ecosystem over the past decade—shifting from initial caution and estrangement to increasing understanding, dialogue, and even a certain degree of mutual proximity.

And Mark Wetjen just happens to have witnessed and participated in all of this.

From the Regulatory Seat to the Market Frontline

In the narrative of the cryptocurrency industry's development, regulators are typically viewed as an "external force." They often arrive late, after the market has already formed, using rules to amend, restrict, or even correct the innovations that have already occurred.

However, Mark Wetjen's trajectory is somewhat different.

While many were still debating whether "Bitcoin as a newborn digital asset is an internet bubble," he was already contemplating a more pragmatic question: if this asset could truly exist and continue to grow, how should the regulatory system address it?

If we closely observe Mark Wetjen's career path, we find that he has traversed almost all of the most significant nodes in the modern financial system.

In Washington, he was a policymaker; at the CFTC, he was a regulator; at DTCC (the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation), he entered the core financial infrastructure of Wall Street, participating in shaping DTCC's early thoughts on blockchain technology; later, he was hired to lead MIAX Futures and assisted in pushing its entry into the digital asset products space. Subsequently, he joined FTX US, dealing with policy and regulatory affairs. From rule drafter to infrastructure guardian to exchange leader, this path almost ties together the entire financial market's lifeblood.

During his tenure at the CFTC, he approved the first Bitcoin derivative tool traded on a regulated platform in the U.S. and instructed the General Counsel to evaluate whether Bitcoin falls under the commodity definition, thereby determining its suitability as a reference asset for CFTC regulatory products. At that time, he saw a new and emerging market that was full of potential but structurally chaotic. He was already one of the earliest officials in Washington advocating for the establishment of a regulatory framework for Bitcoin.

In his early years, Wetjen formed the view that those cryptocurrency companies capable of long-term development are precisely those that treat compliance capabilities as a competitive advantage. Because compliance not only means legal security but also broader market access, more institutional funding, and more stable long-term growth.

In Wetjen's view, Backpack is exactly such a company.

They are a true team that places compliance at the core of product design, rather than treating compliance as a patch applied afterward. This is also a significant reason he ultimately chose to join Backpack.

Now, as Backpack officially enters the U.S. market, he has been appointed President of Backpack US, responsible for operations management, regulatory communication, and business development in the U.S. market. Simply put, he has only one task: to help Backpack truly land in the world's most complex and important financial market.

From today's achievements, this strategy is already showing signs of taking shape. Backpack has obtained regulatory approvals in multiple jurisdictions: acquiring a VASP license in Dubai, receiving MiFID II authorization in Europe, and the U.S. is its next critical market. Wetjen believes this is not a coincidence—it's a well-considered strategic choice.

The Ultimate Answer to Exchange Competition: Trust

In recent years, the competition among cryptocurrency exchanges has seemed like an endless arms race: whose liquidity is deeper, whose product iterations are faster, and whose listing speed is quicker… These have been hailed as the ultimate principles, and indeed, allowed some platforms to stand out in the short term.

However, when asked about the most core competitive edge for exchanges in the next decade, Wetjen believes none of these are the final answer.

His answer is simple: trust.

In the cryptocurrency industry, everything comes quickly and departs just as swiftly. The leading matching engines today could be replaced by more efficient architectures tomorrow; a liquidity pool that an exchange prides itself on could swiftly be replicated by competitors within market cycles. Even regulatory licenses, which were once seen as barriers, may no longer be exclusive advantages for a few institutions as the industry gradually moves towards compliance.

But trust is different.

If an exchange can maintain long-term stable operations in a complex and ever-changing regulatory environment, always prioritizing the safety of user assets, this trust will continue to accumulate over time, ultimately becoming the hardest moat to replicate.

In Wetjen's view, the role that cryptocurrency trading platforms will play in the future extends far beyond that of a simple trade matching system.

It is more like a bridge. One end connects the native cryptocurrency world, while the other end connects the traditional financial system, allowing ordinary users and institutional investors to enter this new financial network in a compliant and secure manner.

It is precisely for this reason that he chose to join Backpack. "I believe this team is doing the right thing at the right time," Wetjen said.

If five years from now, when people talk about the most compliant, most trustworthy, and most innovative trading platform in the cryptocurrency industry, the first name that comes to mind is Backpack, then for him, this experiment may have already succeeded.

In a sense, this is also a natural continuation of his career.

Ten years ago, he was discussing in a Washington conference room how to regulate Bitcoin.

Ten years later, he is participating in building a cryptocurrency financial infrastructure that could be accepted by the regulatory system.

Some people are builders of the cryptocurrency world, while others are gatekeepers of the regulatory system. And people like Mark Wetjen are attempting to build a bridge between the two.

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