Drift Protocol to Launch Equities Perps on Solana

Drift Protocol, a Solana-based decentralized exchange, has revealed plans to expand its operations into the equities perpetual markets.

At the ongoing Solana Accelerate program in Hong Kong, Drift’s head of product, Kevin Eum, hinted at the upcoming launch on the Solana network. Still, he did not mention when the new service will launch.

Drift to Explore Equities Perps

For context, equities perps are derivative products that allow traders to gain leveraged exposure to stocks and indices tied to traditional and crypto-focused companies. These include stocks issued by firms such as Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, Strategy, BitMine, and others. Like crypto perps, equities perps have no expiration date. As a result, users can hold their trading positions for as long as they wish.

Eum explained that Drift is exploring various services because Solana’s ecosystem continues to evolve. Currently, the DEX offers spot trading and perpetual futures. It also offers an Earn product, where users can earn up to a 16% yield on their deposits. The platform also serves institutional clients through its Drift Institutional service.

Going forward, Drift Protocol will begin offering digital assets, including stock tokens and commodity assets. The exchange’s head of product added that these assets will become usable as collateral.

Wen DRIFT Pump?

Despite Eum’s hint at a new service incoming, Drift’s native token, DRIFT, failed to impress.

At the time of writing, the asset sold for $0.07764, representing a 7% decrease in the past 24 hours. Its daily traded volume has also depreciated by over 37% to $5.37 million. These downtrends, as shown on the price-tracking website CoinMarketCap, show that investors are cautious.

Unsurprisingly, DRIFT’s downtrend coincides with broader declines in the Solana ecosystem. Various Solana-based tokens are currently in the bearish zone. SOL, on its part, is currently down nearly 4% from its price 24 hours ago. At press time, it traded at $81.16.

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