Drift BET
Drift Protocol (Drift Labs)
Data verified on unchanged since the sources
Worth it if you want non-custodial prediction markets on Solana with marginable positions, rock-bottom fees (0.035% taker) and no-KYC wallet access.
Avoid it if you weigh security or want decentralized resolution: a severe ~$296M exploit in April 2026 and resolution centralized by the security council.
The prediction market of Drift Protocol, the leading derivatives DEX on Solana, launched in August 2024. Non-custodial and on-chain, it runs on the same hybrid infrastructure (order book + vAMM) as Drift's perpetuals: prediction-market positions are marginable and can use leverage. Resolution is centralized, handled by the protocol's security council. After a major exploit in April 2026 (~$296M), Drift migrated settlement from USDC to USDT and started a recovery fund with Tether.
Data & conditions
| Trading fee | 0.035% |
|---|---|
| Maker fee | -0.003% |
| Fund custody | Self-custody (funds in your control) |
| Market resolution | Manual (team) |
| Oracle | Stable resolution oracle (security council) |
| Liquidity model | Hybrid |
| Market categories | Sports, Crypto, Economy, Politics |
| Leverage available | Yes |
| Settlement token | USDT (ex USDC, dopo l'exploit di aprile 2026) |
| Chains | Solana |
| Native token | DRIFT |
| Fiat on-ramp | No |
| Audits | OtterSec (ridisegno codebase, 2026), Asymmetric Research (operational security, 2026) |
| KYC | No KYC |
| Supported countries | EEA, UK, APAC, LATAM, MENA, AFRICA |
| Regulator | None |
| Segment | B2C |
| Past incidents | April 2026: ~$296M exploit; settlement migrated from USDC to USDT, ~$148M recovery fund with Tether and partners |
| MiCA / License status | Protocollo on-chain (nessuna licenza diretta) on-chain protocol |
Strengths
- Non-custodial on Solana, integrated with a mature derivatives DEX.
- Very low fees (taker 0.035%, maker rebate) inherited from perps.
- Marginable positions: hedges and structured bets with leverage.
- No-KYC access via wallet (including passwordless login).
- Self-custody: funds stay in your wallet — the platform cannot touch them.
- No KYC: usable without identity verification.
- Funds cannot be frozen: no authority can block your balance.
- Public security audits.
Weaknesses
- Resolution centralized by the security council (not a decentralized oracle).
- Major exploit in April 2026 (~$296M): a material event for trust.
- Leverage raises risk versus full-collateral prediction markets.
- US typically restricted at the interface level; geo restrictions not detailed.
- Subject to regulation (on-chain protocol): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.
Verdict
Drift BET leverages a mature DEX infrastructure and very low fees, but on protection two factors weigh: centralized resolution in the security council and above all the ~$296M exploit of April 2026, a material event that lowers the judgment despite the response (recovery fund, audits, switch to USDT). Leverage adds risk versus full-collateral markets.
From a crypto-native angle Drift BET is non-custodial on Solana, no KYC and permissionless, with funds in the user's wallet: a good sovereignty base. The weak point is centralized resolution by the security council, which reintroduces a trust point, and US interface-level restrictions.
Promp's editorial rating based on real fees and net annual cost. Promp reviews third-party products independently.
"Sovereignty" rating: score computed on privacy/anonymity (30%), fund control (20%), censorship resistance (20%), trustless/auditability (20%) and costs (10%). Same data, different weights.
Reputation
What happened to people who used Drift BET, and what users say. External signals: they do not feed the promp.it rating.
Incidents & regulatory actions
Notable incidentsDocumented events with consequences still open. Each entry carries a source and a date.
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Hack / funds theft Critical $296M ● open
$295.7M exploit on the Drift protocol: vaults drained in 12 minutes, prediction markets halted along with the rest of the platform, users still not repaid
On 1 Apr 2026 Drift Protocol lost $295.7M of user funds in roughly 12 minutes across 31 withdrawals. Per TRM Labs' reconstruction the attack had been staged for weeks: from 11 Mar the infrastructure funds were withdrawn from Tornado Cash; between 23 and 30 Mar the attackers created Solana "durable nonce" accounts to pre-sign delayed transactions and socially engineered Security Council signers into approving hidden admin authorisations; on 27 Mar Drift had removed the Security Council timelock, erasing the detection window. In parallel they manufactured a fictitious asset (CVT, CarbonVote Token, minted 12 Mar with 750M units), pinned at about $1 via a small Raydium pool and wash trading and fed through an oracle they controlled: Drift's oracles accepted it as collateral worth hundreds of millions. On 1 Apr the pre-signed transactions deposited the fake collateral, raised withdrawal limits and drained the vaults; most of the proceeds were bridged to Ethereum within hours. Drift suspended deposits and withdrawals; the DRIFT token fell more than 40%. Forensics firm Mandiant attributed the attack to UNC6862, a North Korean threat group with direct ties to other state-sponsored actors (attribution reported by Drift itself in its official 3 Jun 2026 update). Recovery: Drift issued a dedicated recovery token (a transferable SPL token, separate from the DRIFT governance token), 1 unit = $1 of verified loss, against $295,426,725.97 in confirmed losses. The recovery pool started from the $3.8M left in the protocol and is meant to grow through quarterly exchange revenue plus announced commitments of up to $127.5M from Tether and up to $20M from other partners; redemption only opens once the pool exceeds $5M, and anyone redeeming early takes a pro-rata share of whatever the pool holds at that moment and forfeits the rest of their claim. The relaunch was made conditional on two independent audits (Ottersec and Asymmetric) and on a new community-governed multisig, with dedicated signing devices and timelocks on all critical administrative actions. On 1 Jul 2026 the protocol was rebranded Velocity and restarted as a perps-only exchange settled in USDT (no longer USDC), backed by a Tether credit line. As of the verification date users are NOT repaid: the latest official recovery update is the one dated 3 Jun 2026, which announces neither that the $5M threshold was reached nor that redemptions opened, deferring "detail on recovery mechanics and timing" to later communications. Drift BET runs on the same infrastructure as the protocol that was hit: the suspension of deposits and withdrawals and the subsequent reboot halted the prediction markets too, and the settlement migration from USDC to USDT applies to the whole platform.
↗ source
verified on
FAQ
How are markets resolved on Drift BET?
Resolution is centralized: the protocol's security council (an elected multisig under Realms governance) lists, arbitrates and resolves markets by setting a 'stable resolution oracle' to 0 or 1 after expiry. It is neither an optimistic nor a decentralized oracle.
How much are Drift BET's fees?
Prediction markets use the same fee structure as Drift's perpetuals: base tier taker 0.035% and maker −0.0025% (rebate), decreasing with volume and DRIFT token staking.
Is Drift BET safe after the 2026 exploit?
In April 2026 Drift suffered an exploit of about $296M. The protocol started a recovery fund (~$148M, with Tether), migrated settlement from USDC to USDT and engaged OtterSec and Asymmetric Research for audits and rebuilding. Assess the current status before trading.
Sources
- coindesk.com Settlement token Data verified on Jun 23, 2026
- docs.drift.trade Custodial · Risoluzione tipo · Liquidity model · Leva · +2 Data verified on Jun 23, 2026
- fortune.com Azienda · Founders · Funding Data verified on Jun 23, 2026