SlowMist's review of Drift Protocol theft: Lack of multi-signature security mechanisms was the main cause; DeFi project teams need to rehearse extreme scenarios.

DeepFlowTech · 2026-04-02T02:01:54+00:00

The Drift Protocol theft incident was migrated to a 2/5 multisignature setup without a timelock due to improper implementation, allowing the attacker to quickly take over admin privileges, resulting in asset losses exceeding $200 million. SlowMist founder urges DeFi project teams to regularly review security mechanisms, and users should be aware of the risk of fund losses.

DeepFlowTech

2026-04-02 02:01:54

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Deep Tide TechFlow message. On April 02, according to a disclosure by SlowMist founder Cos (Yu Xian) (@evilcos), the root cause of the Drift Protocol theft incident was that about a week earlier it migrated the multisig configuration to 2/5 without a timelock (1 old signer + 4 new signers). This allowed the attacker to take over admin privileges within a few hours. They then minted fake CVT coins, manipulated the Oracle, disabled related security mechanisms, and ultimately drained all value assets from the pool, with losses exceeding $200 million.

Cos also called for all DeFi project teams to review—promptly and on a regular basis—the extreme risk scenarios after owner/admin private key compromise, and to improve alerting and response mechanisms. Users should also clearly understand the loss exposure of the DeFi protocol they participate in under extreme circumstances (such as internal malicious activity), to avoid blindly entering the market.

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