Drift Launches Governance Token Through Airdrop as Decentralized Exchange Grows on Solana

Drift, a Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX), is set to launch its DRIFT governance token through an airdrop to its users in the coming weeks, according to information on its website and sources close to the matter. The new token follows a three-month points program that attracted traders, borrowers, lenders, and airdrop farmers to Drift, making it one of the largest venues for trading perpetuals in Solana DeFi. Most of the 100 million tokens allocated for this airdrop will go to longstanding Drift users, while venture capitalists such as Polychain Capital, Multicoin Capital, and Solana co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal have contributed over $25 million to the project since 2021. Forty-three percent of the tokens will be used for ecosystem development, potentially including trading rewards, liquidity incentives, and future airdrops, while 25% will be allocated to Drift’s contributors under the protocol development category. Drift aims to become a comprehensive platform for cryptocurrency investors on Solana, featuring perpetuals trading for speculation with up to 20x leverage, spot trading, and other high-risk, high-reward products, including a service that allows users to bet on upcoming tokens, although not for DRIFT token due to legal constraints. Drift’s developers plan to establish the protocol as a single location for DeFi activities, following two years of development, substantial funding, and the involvement of 25 personnel. During the recent crypto market collapse, Drift’s insurance fund, providing high-interest USDC returns but protecting the platform against bad debts, experienced $11,600 in socialized losses, albeit designed to serve as such a backup. However, Drift maintained stability during the turmoil, with Leow reporting $200 million in open interest during the downturn and a 10% rate of liquidation. Control of Drift will shift from Drift Labs to a three-pronged governance structure, comprising a security council with update authority over the platform, a Realms DAO for token holder voting, and a Futarchy DAO to handle ecosystem grants. The latter operates much like the MetaDAO and determines who receives funds, for what purposes, and how much via conditional markets. Leow mentioned learning about futarchy during the mtnDAO hacker house in February and her team’s subsequent insistence on implementing the concept within Drift’s governance framework. New ecosystem projects, including trading bot development, validator client creation, and alternative frontend development, are being considered for potential investment.