Because the cryptocurrency panorama continues to evolve with quite a few layer-1 and layer-2 blockchains, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Drift is making important developments on the Solana (SOL) blockchain.
Just lately, Drift introduced a profitable $25 million Sequence B funding spherical led by crypto enterprise agency, Multicoin Capital. This funding will assist propel Drift’s imaginative and prescient of changing into the “Robinhood of crypto,” based on co-founder Cindy Leow.
How Solana Powers Drift’s Operations
In a current interview with Fortune, Leow expressed her ambition to ascertain Drift as a complete on-chain monetary establishment. The platform plans to increase its suite of economic providers, which presently consists of spot and derivatives buying and selling and a prediction market, all constructed atop the Solana blockchain.
Based in 2021, Drift operates as a derivatives change, distinguishing itself from centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Coinbase and Binance by using a permissionless construction on the Solana blockchain.
This mannequin ensures that customers have full management over their funds, with no centralized authority managing their belongings. Whereas Solana hosts decentralized exchanges (DEXs), Drift separates itself with its various product choices, together with borrowing and lending protocols.
Drift Labs, the corporate behind Drift, develops the software program and protocol ruled by an related token (DRIFT) and a decentralized autonomous group (DAO).
Certainly one of Drift’s hottest merchandise is the perpetual future—a kind of spinoff contract that permits merchants to take a position on the longer term worth of an asset with out an expiration date.
Whereas these merchandise attraction primarily to extra subtle traders, Drift restricts entry to perpetual futures within the US, the place solely spot buying and selling is accessible.
Certainly one of Drift’s key elements is its cross-margining functionality, which permits customers to make use of varied belongings—resembling dollar-backed stablecoins, Solana, and wrapped Bitcoin—as collateral for trades.
Drift Plans To Double Workforce Following Funding Spherical
In response to Fortune, Drift’s development has attracted important funding, with over 200,000 customers and greater than $50 billion in cumulative buying and selling quantity.
The profitable Sequence B spherical brings Drift’s whole funding to $52.5 million, with plans to double its workforce from 25 to 50 throughout the subsequent 12 months.
Below Leow’s management, Drift additionally stands out as a female-led crypto firm. She famous that Drift has one of many highest gender diversities in crypto, with roughly half of its management workforce being girls.
On the time of writing, Solana is buying and selling at $143, up almost 12% within the final 24 hours alone, outperforming the highest ten largest cryptocurrencies in the marketplace, together with Bitcoin and Ethereum.
This rally follows the Federal Reserve’s announcement on Wednesday to chop rates of interest by 0.50 foundation factors, a improvement that has thus far boosted bullish sentiment available in the market.
Featured picture from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
