Drift Protocol on Solana was hacked, losing over $280 million in a sophisticated attack, raising concerns about its future.
Drift Protocol, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform operating on Solana, experienced a severe hacking incident on April 1, 2026, leading to a loss exceeding $280 million.
We are currently investigating unusual activity on the protocol. Please refrain from depositing funds while we assess the situation. This is not an April Fools joke. Proceed with caution until further notice. Updates will be provided from this account.
— Drift (@DriftProtocol) April 1, 2026
The hackers had reportedly been planning the attack for several days. On March 23, they set up four wallets with delayed transaction capabilities, two of which were associated with Drift's Security Council members, while the other two were controlled by the hackers.
A malicious actor gained unauthorized access to Drift Protocol through a sophisticated attack involving durable nonces, resulting in a rapid takeover of administrative powers.
— Drift (@DriftProtocol) April 2, 2026
On the day of the breach, the Drift team conducted a legitimate withdrawal test from the insurance fund, which was followed almost immediately by the activation of two pre-signed transactions by the hacker. These transactions facilitated a malicious transfer of rights and executed the theft.
Impact of the Attack
The breach impacted all deposits, including loans and trading funds, but assets like DSOL tokens outside the Drift ecosystem remained secure. In response, Drift froze operations, updated its multi-signature security measures, and removed the compromised wallets. The stolen assets included various cryptocurrencies, such as wrapped Bitcoin and stablecoins, which were subsequently dispersed across multiple wallets.
The breakdown of stolen assets includes:
$5.3M USDS
$60.4M USDC
$5.65M USDT
$430K JUP
$540K USDY
$590K ZBTC
$680K EURC
$1M BSOL
$2.5M INF
$2M MSOL
$3.3M SYRUPUSDC
$4.1M FARTCOIN
$4.4M WBTC
$3.6M JITOSOL
$4.7M WETH
$4.5M DSOL
$11.3M CBBTC
$155.6M JPL
— Vladimir S. | Officer's Notes (@officer_secret) April 1, 2026
The incident caused Drift's native token, DRIFT, to plummet nearly 37%, dropping from $0.07 to $0.04, with its market capitalization falling from $41 million to $25 million. Currently, the total value locked (TVL) in Drift is approximately $245 million.
Many users are doubtful about Drift's recovery following the hack, noting that significant breaches often lead to the demise of protocols. Analysts suggest that major attacks can result in a “death sentence” for about 80% of affected platforms.
Drift may not survive this incident. Bybit secured a billion-dollar loan post-hack due to its revenue, but Drift lacks the earnings to justify such support.
— Eddie (@DancingEddie_) April 1, 2026
Response from Circle
Criticism arose towards Circle, the issuer of USDC, for their delayed response in freezing the funds related to the hack. Delphi Digital co-founder Tommy Shaughnessy pointed out the absurdity of Circle's inaction, suggesting that centralized control should allow for quicker intervention.
The failure to freeze USDC funds is ridiculous; the company allows money to flow freely, even to hostile entities.
— Tommy (@Shaughnessy119) April 2, 2026
On-chain analyst ZachXBT echoed these concerns, noting that significant sums were transferred from Solana to Ethereum during business hours without Circle's intervention.
Circle was inactive while millions of USDC were swapped post-hack. This follows a recent incident where they mistakenly froze wallets.
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 2, 2026
As of now, Circle has yet to take any action regarding the stolen funds.
