Bitrabo Editorial
The cryptocurrency realm is changing rapidly, particularly with various layer-1 and layer-2 blockchains emerging. In this evolving environment, Drift, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, is achieving significant strides on the Solana (SOL) blockchain.
Recently, Drift revealed it had successfully secured $25 million in a Series B funding round, spearheaded by Multicoin Capital, a venture capital firm specializing in cryptocurrency. Co-founder Cindy Leow stated that this funding will help realize Drift’s ambition of becoming the “Robinhood of crypto.”
Solana’s Role in Drift’s Functionality
During a recent interview with Fortune, Leow shared her vision of positioning Drift as a full-fledged on-chain financial institution. The platform aims to broaden its range of financial services, which already includes spot trading, derivatives trading, and a prediction market—all established on the Solana blockchain.
Established in 2021, Drift functions as a derivatives exchange, setting itself apart from centralized exchanges like Coinbase and Binance through its open-access framework on Solana.
This system offers users full control over their funds, free from any central authority overseeing their assets. Although Solana has decentralized exchanges (DEXs), Drift distinguishes itself by providing a wider variety of products, such as borrowing and lending protocols.
Drift Labs is the organization fostering the development of Drift’s software and protocols, which are managed by a token (DRIFT) and a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
One of Drift’s standout offerings is the perpetual future—an innovative derivative contract enabling traders to speculate on an asset’s future prices without any expiration. While tailored for more advanced investors, access to these perpetual futures is limited in the U.S., where only spot trading is permitted.
A notable feature of Drift is its cross-margining ability, allowing users to use various assets—like dollar-pegged stablecoins, Solana, and wrapped Bitcoin—for collateral in trading activities.
Expansion Plans After Successful Funding Round
As reported by Fortune, Drift’s rapid growth has garnered attention, attracting over 200,000 users and amassing over $50 billion in total trading volume.
The recently concluded Series B funding round brings Drift’s total capital raised to $52.5 million, with plans underway to grow its workforce from 25 to 50 employees in the coming year.
Under Leow’s guidance, Drift is notable for being a female-led company within the crypto space, highlighting exceptional gender diversity, with around half of its leadership team comprising women.
As of this writing, Solana is priced at $143, having risen nearly 12% in the past 24 hours, surpassing many of the ten largest cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
This price increase follows the Federal Reserve’s announcement to lower interest rates by 0.50 basis points, a move that has so far encouraged a bullish outlook in the market.
Image sourced from DALL-E, chart data from TradingView.com