Drift
Drift was a Solana perpetuals and lending exchange that was paused after an April 2026 exploit and rebuilt as Velocity, a perps-only fork. Existing Drift accounts do not carry over; users must open new Velocity accounts.
Sign-up perk: 5% off taker fees.
Now: see Velocity.
Checked 2026-10-16 · sources below- Round trip fee
- 0.12% buy + sell, platform fee
- $1,000 buy + sell
- $1.20 $1.14 with sign-up discount
- US availability
- Unverified UK: unverified · EU: unverified
- Custody
- non-custodial
- KYC
- none
- Platforms
- web
- Launched
- 2021-11
Users paid Drift about $1.3M in fees in the 30 days to 2026-10-17 (DefiLlama) — a rough measure of how much it is actually used.
Best for: Former Drift users and Solana perps traders evaluating Velocity, the post-exploit relaunch of Drift.
Drift fees
| Fee | Type | Rate | Applies to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perps taker fee (Regular) | platform | 0.06% | Buy and sell | 6 bps on SOL/BTC/ETH-PERP. Velocity's protocol intro page instead states 4 bps at the base tier, so the live rate may differ. |
| Maker rebate | platform | -0.003% | Buy and sell | 0.25 bps paid to post-only makers, flat at every tier |
| Per-market fee add-on | platform | — | Buy and sell | Individual markets can add up to 10 bps on top of the tier taker fee. |
| Funding | protocol | — | Buy and sell | Hourly payment between longs and shorts. |
| Swap fee | protocol | 0% | Buy and sell | Spot markets and the direct swap path charge no maker or taker fee. |
Fee tiers
| Tier | Rate | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | 0.06% | < $5M trailing 30-day volume |
| VIP 1 | 0.05% | $5M - $80M |
| VIP 2 | 0.04% | $80M - $200M |
| VIP 3 | 0.02% | > $200M |
Perps: taker 0.06%, maker -0.003% — Velocity, Regular tier, SOL/BTC/ETH-PERP. Negative maker = rebate. Volume counts maker, taker and liquidation fills.
Platform fees only. On-chain network/priority fees, pool (LP) fees and price impact are extra and vary by trade.
Is Drift legit?
Velocity runs as a Solana program; the April 2026 Drift exploit came through attacker access to the project's multisig wallets, not user keys.
Backers: Multicoin Capital (lead; also Blockchain Capital, Primitive Ventures, Folius Ventures) ($25,000,000), 2024-09.
Incidents on record
- 2026-04-01: Drift multisig exploit, more than $280M lost. Attackers gained access to Drift's multisig wallets and withdrew assets in about 12 minutes over 31 transactions. ZachXBT, Elliptic and TRM Labs attributed it to North Korea's Lazarus Group; estimates range from $280M to $295M. Affected wallets received recovery tokens at $1 per confirmed lost dollar, redeemable once the compensation fund reaches $5M. Source
- 2026-09-29: Co-founder Cindy Leow steps down; Velocity handed to new team. Leow announced she was stepping down and handed the rebuilt exchange to a five-person team. OtterSec's audit of Velocity recorded 154 findings, none critical. Source
Where Drift is available
| Region | Status |
|---|---|
| United States | Unverified |
| United Kingdom | Unverified |
| European Union | Unverified |
Velocity's Terms of Use page did not render when fetched on 2026-10-16, so jurisdiction restrictions could not be verified. (source)
We report what the venue's own terms say. Don't use a VPN to get around restrictions; venues can freeze accounts that do.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Velocity pays post-only makers a 0.25 bp rebate at every tier.
- Deposits earn the lending rate while also backing perp positions.
- Referees get 5% off taker fees, and referrers earn 10% or 20%.
- OtterSec's audit of Velocity recorded 154 findings, none critical.
Cons
- Drift lost more than $280M in an April 1, 2026 multisig exploit attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group.
- Drift accounts and balances do not carry over; Velocity requires new accounts and uses USDT, not USDC.
- Exploit victims hold recovery tokens that pay out only from a compensation fund being topped up over time.
- Velocity's code is not yet open source.
Features
perpscross-marginborrow-lendswapsvaultsbuilder codesapijit auctions
Alternatives to Drift
Lighter
Non-US, non-UK retail perps traders who want zero trading fees and can accept slower taker execution than paid accounts.
0%Round trip
Paradex
Non-US traders who place orders manually through a web UI and want zero-fee perps plus options from one margin account.
0%Round trip
Ostium
Traders who want onchain leveraged exposure to stocks, forex, commodities and indices from a self-custodied wallet, outside the US.
0.06%Round trip
Aster
Non-US, non-UK traders who want zero maker fees on order-book perps, very high leverage modes, or privacy-shielded orders.
0.08%Round trip
Head to head
Explainers related to Drift
- What is leverage in crypto trading? (margin, multiples and risk)
- What is liquidation in crypto trading? (how leveraged positions get closed)
- What are perpetual futures (perps)? A trader's explainer
- What is a stop-loss order in crypto? (and why it can fill below your stop)
Drift FAQ
Is Drift legit?
Drift was a Solana perps exchange exploited for more than $280M on April 1, 2026, attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group. The Drift program is paused. The team relaunched as Velocity, a new fork with fresh accounts, and removed its whitelist on September 21, 2026.
What happened to Drift Protocol?
After the April 1, 2026 exploit drained its multisig wallets, Drift stopped operating. It rebranded to Velocity, received up to $127.5M in credit from Tether, switched its quote asset to USDT and relaunched as a perps-only exchange.
Do my Drift funds or account carry over to Velocity?
No. Velocity is a new program deployment and no onchain state carries over. Affected Drift wallets received recovery tokens at $1 per confirmed lost dollar, redeemable once the compensation fund reaches $5M.
What are Velocity's trading fees?
Velocity's fee table lists 0.06% taker at the Regular tier for SOL, BTC and ETH perps, falling to 0.02% above $200M 30-day volume. Post-only makers earn a 0.0025% rebate. Rates are admin-settable.
Sources
Last checked . Fees and terms change often; the venue's own page wins if it disagrees with ours.
- Velocity Docs - Trading fees — checked 2026-10-16
- Velocity Docs - Introduction to Velocity — checked 2026-10-16
- Velocity Docs - Referrals — checked 2026-10-16
- Velocity Docs - Migrating from Drift — checked 2026-10-16
- Velocity Terms of Use (did not render) — checked 2026-10-16
- CoinSpot - Drift Protocol relaunches as Velocity DEX, receives credit line from Tether — checked 2026-10-16
- Solana Compass - Drift co-founder Cindy Leow steps down — checked 2026-10-16
- Crowdfund Insider - Drift secures $25M Series B led by Multicoin — checked 2026-10-16
- The Defiant - Drift Protocol rebrands to Velocity DEX ahead of relaunch — checked 2026-10-16