DRIFT's recent scandal has caused a huge stir, with some panic-selling and others trying to profit from the chaos. When the incident occurred, I also looked into its background. In simple terms, it is a leading perpetual contract trading platform on the Solana blockchain. On paper, its data looks impressive: a total trading volume of 50 billion, approximately 150k users, and a TVL of 550 million. However, a wave of controversy directly led to the theft of 280 million in funds, which is like a severe blow to its core, and it’s only one step away from total collapse.

In the DeFi world, confidence is more valuable than gold. Once sustained bank runs and outflows occur, DRIFT will inevitably fall from grace and become a third-rate project. Even more concerning is that the Solana ecosystem itself suffers from insufficient capital and fragile liquidity. In the current environment of tight funding, once DRIFT loses its capital moat, the token’s value heading to zero is not just a scare story.

From a business perspective, its profitability has also been seriously overestimated. With a 0.03% fee rate, a total trading volume of 50 billion would generate only about 15 million in profit. After deducting high server costs, market maker subsidies, and team operating expenses, net profit is very limited. It’s important to note that this 15 million is not annual profit but the total revenue since the project’s inception. With such weak profitability, its current valuation of nearly 40 million is clearly inflated.

Looking at its development pace, it’s even more nerve-wracking. The project was founded in 2021 and only issued tokens in 2024, a full three years of painfully slow updates and iterations. In the fast-changing crypto space, such sluggish execution itself is a risk. With a severely damaged fundamentals, an inability to support its valuation with profits, and a sluggish team, it will be even more difficult for DRIFT to turn things around—perhaps even more difficult than climbing to the sky. $SOL ‌$DRIFT ‌