Drift Protocol Hit by ₱17.28 billion ($285 million) Solana DeFi Hack
Blockchain sleuths first spotted funds leaving Drift Protocol Wednesday afternoon New York time, with the bulk consisting of USDC and tens of millions more in Jupiter Perps, Fartcoin, and wrapped Ethereum. Security firms flagged the movements as suspicious, prompting the protocol to suspend all deposits and withdrawals.
Key Takeaway
Non-custodial doesn't mean hack-proof — smart contract vulnerabilities remain DeFi's biggest threat.
Hackers drained ₱17.28 billion ($285 million) from Drift Protocol's vaults on Wednesday, making it one of the largest DeFi attacks on Solana to date.
Drift Protocol's official account warned users that deposits and withdrawals had been suspended. The team said they were coordinating with multiple security firms, bridges, and exchanges to contain the incident. They added: "This is not an April Fools joke. Proceed with caution until further notice."
PeckShield and Arkham Intelligence flagged the fund movements as suspicious. The bulk of the stolen funds consisted of USDC, with tens of millions more taken in Jupiter Perps, Fartcoin, and wrapped Ethereum.
The attack hammered Drift's native token. DRIFT dropped 11% over 24 hours to $0.05, according to CoinGecko. Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz warned traders on X to monitor their positions, adding he wasn't fully certain yet but it seemed the protocol might be getting exploited.
Drift Protocol operates as a non-custodial perpetual futures exchange on Solana, meaning users control their own private keys rather than depositing funds with a centralized entity. The protocol launched in 2021 as one of Solana's first DeFi projects and raised ₱1.52 billion ($25 million) in Series B funding from Multicoin Capital in 2024. Drift Labs announced plans to compete with Polymarket through a prediction markets platform, which the ₱17.28 billion ($285 million) loss may now jeopardize.
This article was written based on reporting from Dlnews.
