Solana news

Tether has provided a $127.5 million rescue package to Drift Protocol, a Solana-based DEX that suffered a $286 million exploit. As part of the deal, Drift must transition its entire ecosystem from Circle's USDC to Tether's USDT. This move challenges Circle's dominance on Solana, where USDC currently holds over 52% of stablecoin supply. Analysts view it as Tether's strategic play to capture market share in Solana's high-volume payment ecosystem. The rescue follows criticism of Circle's slower response to freezing stolen funds during the exploit. Tether's intervention positions it as a more proactive protector of user assets in the crypto space.

Spot Solana and Chainlink ETFs saw their largest daily inflows in a month on April 16, signaling renewed institutional interest in mid-cap altcoin products. Solana ETFs attracted $15.5 million, while Chainlink ETFs added $1.57 million. Despite the inflow surge, price reactions for both tokens remained modest. SOL gained 3.3% and LINK rose 1.6% over 24 hours, outpacing Bitcoin and Ethereum but still trading in the red over the past month. The April 16 flows represent a tentative shift after weeks of cautious positioning, though it remains uncertain whether this marks a durable rotation back into altcoin products.

DoubleZero Foundation has launched DoubleZero Edge, a platform providing high-speed real-time data from the Solana blockchain to crypto trading firms. The system uses a private fiber network and multicast technology to reduce data delivery delays by tens of milliseconds, aiming to offer Wall Street-style infrastructure for faster and more reliable market access. Validators on Solana can earn extra revenue by supplying data, while traders pay in USDC for subscriptions. This initiative addresses the growing demand for deterministic performance in crypto markets, potentially leveling the playing field and improving trading efficiency.

Y Combinator has completed its first all-stablecoin funding round, investing $500,000 in USDC on Solana for prediction markets startup Totalis. The accelerator executed the investment in three onchain transactions via financial platform Ramp. Y Combinator's leadership confirmed the accelerator will invest in stablecoins for any funded startup, not just crypto companies, citing faster settlement times and lower costs compared to traditional banking rails. This move reflects Y Combinator's commitment to crypto-native operations.

Solana-based decentralized exchange Stabble urged liquidity providers to withdraw funds after discovering a former North Korean employee had worked there. The emergency warning followed online investigator ZachXBT's post about a North Korean developer at Elemental, a related Solana DeFi project. Stabble's new team, which took over four weeks ago, said there was no exploit but issued the precautionary alert for safety. They plan to conduct new audits before resuming operations. This incident highlights ongoing concerns about North Korean infiltration in crypto companies.

The Solana Foundation has launched STRIDE, a tiered security program offering 24/7 threat monitoring for DeFi protocols with over $10 million total value locked. Protocols exceeding $100 million TVL will receive formal verification services funded by the Foundation. This initiative follows a $285 million exploit on Solana-based Drift Protocol on April 1, which North Korean hackers reportedly spent six months planning. The program aims to address growing security challenges as attackers target Solana's increasing locked value with sophisticated methods.

The Solana Foundation announced new security initiatives following a $270 million exploit on Drift Protocol. The programs include Stride, a structured evaluation for DeFi protocols, and the Solana Incident Response Network (SIRN) for crisis management. The Drift attack exploited human vulnerabilities through a six-month social engineering campaign, not smart contract flaws. Stride offers security assessments and monitoring, but would not have prevented this specific attack, which bypassed technical safeguards. SIRN aims to improve response coordination with exchanges and stablecoin issuers. The foundation emphasized that protocols retain ultimate responsibility for security, despite these new support measures.

The Solana Foundation has launched new security initiatives, including the STRIDE program and the Solana Incident Response Network (SIRN), to enhance ecosystem security. STRIDE involves independent evaluations by Asymmetric Research, with results made public and incentives for high-value protocols. SIRN is a membership-based network with founding participants like Asymmetric, OtterSec, and Neodyme, prioritizing access based on total value locked. The foundation emphasizes that these resources supplement, but do not replace, the security responsibilities of individual projects.

The Solana Foundation has launched a new security auditing framework called STRIDE and an incident response network (SIRN) to bolster security for Solana-based DeFi protocols. STRIDE evaluates protocols across eight security pillars, with independent assessments published publicly for transparency. This initiative follows recent high-profile attacks, including a $280 million exploit on Drift Protocol and a $40 million drain from Step Finance involving AI agents. In Q1 2026, attackers stole $168 million from 34 DeFi protocols, a significant decrease from $1.58 billion in Q1 2025.

Drift Protocol, a Solana-based decentralized exchange, suffered a $285 million exploit, one of DeFi's largest recent attacks. The attacker gained unauthorized access through a novel method involving social engineering and a fake digital asset, manipulating withdrawal limits to drain liquidity. Security experts highlight centralization risks, noting the exploit exploited a multisignature wallet and lack of safeguards like time locks. The incident underscores ongoing DeFi vulnerabilities, with some linking it to nation-state actors and emphasizing the need for better cybersecurity practices beyond technical audits.