Drift Protocol estimated to have lost $285M in crypto heist

Solana-based decentralized finance exchange Drift Protocol was assessed by PeckShield to have had up to $285 million stolen in an Apr. 1 crypto heist believed to have involved the exploitation of an exposed private key, according to Decrypt.

All deposits and withdrawals have already been suspended amid ongoing investigation and containment efforts alongside various security companies, bridges, and exchanges, said Drift Protocol in a post on X. Drift Protocol was initially reported to have spurious activity on Wednesday morning, when $155 million worth of JLP tokens were moved from the Drift Vault to the HkGz4K address, which was discovered to have been first funded last week. Millions worth of cryptocurrency tokens were then moved to the address, with blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence estimating total transfers to amount to over $250 million.

While additional details regarding the exploit remain uncertain, PeckShield founder Jiang Xuxian suspects that leaked or compromised admin keys enabled the compromise.