Drift Protocol
DRIFTDeFi · Drift Labs
Delisted on 2026-09-14
The DRIFT DAO is served by a Cayman Islands foundation, and no US operating company is documented as principal contributor: Drift Labs' registration and HQ are unestablished. Neither named founder is established as a US person at founding, and the lead founder is a Malaysian citizen. The record stays up for transparency; this is not a current US listing.
The verdict on record
Pathway: Foundation with a US principal contributor. Needs Tests 1 and 4, plus 2 or 3.
Test 1 · not met
Headquartered in the United States
Drift Labs is not recorded with a US headquarters.
Test 4 · not met
Registered in a US state
The registration of Drift Labs is not established.
Test 2 · not met
American founding team
0 of 2 named founders are established US persons holding operational roles today; a majority is required.
Test 3 · not met
Primary operations in the United States
No US primary-operations claim is supported by a primary document or two independent sources.
- Principal-contributor status needs project or primary evidence, or two independent sources.
Legal entities
Drift Foundation
Cayman Islands · foundation
1 source· 1 primary
- Legal termsdrift.foundation/docs2026-09-14
Drift Labs
Jurisdiction not established · principal contributor
1 source
- Pressforbes.com/profile/cindy-leow/2026-09-14
Founders
Cindy Leow
Co-founder, Drift Labs · US status not established · operating role today
1 source
- Pressforbes.com/profile/cindy-leow/2026-09-14
David Lu
Co-founder · US status not established · operating role today
1 source
- Referenceiq.wiki/wiki/david-lu2026-09-14
Record history
2026-09-14 · delisted
Delisted: Cayman foundation with no documented US principal contributor; founders not established as US persons.
2026-09-14 · correction
Removed unsupported "ex-AWS" founder backgrounds and CEO/CTO titles, and the unverified "Drift Labs, Inc. (Delaware)" / New York HQ claims; added the Cayman Drift Foundation, the April 2026 exploit and the Velocity DEX rebrand.
2026-04-29 · listed
Listed in the v0.1 allowlist.
About Drift Protocol
Drift Protocol is a Solana perpetual-futures exchange whose DAO is served by the Drift Foundation, a Cayman Islands foundation company. Attackers drained roughly $285 million from the protocol on April 1, 2026 in an exploit linked to North Korea. The project has since rebranded to Velocity DEX and is relaunching as a USDT-settled, perpetuals-only venue.