Drift Protocol halts activity as suspicious transfers point to possible $270 million exploit

Drift Protocol said it was investigating unusual activity on April 1 and urged users not to deposit funds, according to a post on X.

Drift Protocol is experiencing an active attack. Deposits and withdrawals have been suspended. We are coordinating with multiple security firms, bridges, and exchanges to contain the incident. This is not an April Fools joke. We’ll provide additional updates from this account as… https://t.co/03SRPq4fHj

— Drift (@DriftProtocol) April 1, 2026

In a later update, the Solana-based perpetuals platform said it was experiencing an active attack and had suspended deposits and withdrawals while it coordinated with security firms, bridges, and exchanges to contain the incident.

The protocol did not attach a loss figure to the incident in its public statements, but blockchain tracking accounts quickly began describing it as a possible nine-figure exploit.

Drift Protocol appears to have been exploited, with over $270M in assets suspiciously transferred to wallet HkGz4K. 🚨

That’s crazy!https://t.co/iWVPzvDDhx pic.twitter.com/AQCa5q4b3M

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 1, 2026

One widely cited estimate came from Lookonchain, which said Drift appeared to have been exploited and that more than $270 million in assets had been transferred to a wallet beginning with HkGz4K.

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Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.