Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) Drift Protocol confirmed it was hit by a sophisticated attack worth approximately 280 million dollars. Attackers drained funds by gaining administrative access using pre-signed transactions via Solana’s durable nonces mechanism. The protocol suspended deposits and withdrawals in the attack that began on Wednesday and coordinated with security firms, bridges, and exchanges.
Source: Drift
Technical Details of the DRIFT Attack: Durable Nonces Exploit
USDC and various altcoins were stolen in the attack; most funds were converted to USDC and bridged to Ethereum. Durable nonces is a Solana feature used for offline signing and multisig transactions by skipping transaction expiration dates. The attacker carried out rapid malicious actions this way. According to onchain data, the attacker purchased 130.262 ETH (approximately 267 million dollars). This revealed a vulnerability in Solana’s nonce mechanism in multisig wallets.
Source: Drift
The Drift exploiter had bought 130,262 ($267 million) Ether in total by publishing time. Source: Lookonchain
Why Did DRIFT Price Drop? -42% Sudden Crash
DRIFT token price fell 42.29% to 0.04$ after the hack. RSI at 21.03 is in oversold territory, but downtrend and bearish Supertrend signals continue. EMA 20: resistance above 0.0705$. Technical data for DRIFT detailed analysis is as follows:
| Level | Price | Score | Distance | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support S1 | 0,0348$ | 72/100 ⭐ | -15,41% | Fibo 0.000, Donchian |
| Support S2 | -0,0124$ | 53/100 | -130,14% | Fibo 1.272, RSI OS |
| Resistance R1 | 0,0419$ | 90/100 ⭐ | +1,85% | Pivot, MACD, Fibo 0.618 |
| Resistance R2 | 0,1421$ | 64/100 ⭐ | +245,41% | Fibo 0.618, EMA |
Attacker’s Path: Circle Criticisms and ETH Bridge
Criticisms against Circle increased; it was noted that the company did not freeze the funds before the attacker converted 270 million dollars USDC. Funds were transferred to Ethereum and converted to ETH. This showed the inadequacy of stablecoin bridges’ rapid freeze mechanisms.
Potential Exploit Risk: Another 200 Million Dollars at Risk
According to onchain analyses, there is over 200 million dollars in potentially exploitable funds in the DRIFT protocol. The team is taking emergency measures, but the Solana ecosystem is on alert. Despite this, SBI Holdings’ B2C2 platform selected Solana as the primary stablecoin network for institutional customers – a confidence signal despite the hack.
Risk Analysis for DRIFT Investors and SOL/ETH Impact
Short-term pressure was observed in SOL and ETH prices, but Solana’s overall adoption remains strong. Investors can hedge with DRIFT futures. RSI oversold, recovery possible if R1 0.0419$ is broken. After similar events (e.g., Ronin Bridge), protocols strengthened multisig – an update is expected for DRIFT as well.
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Source: https://en.coinotag.com/drift-hacked-280m-loss-and-price-collapse
