Velocity (formerly Drift Protocol) co-founder Cindy resigns; exchange restarts after rebuilding following hack

Source: PANews2026/09/30 10:02

Analysis

Cindy's departure removes the public-facing co-founder from Velocity just as the rebranded exchange reopens, so the immediate test is whether the remaining team can hold user confidence without its most visible builder. The restart follows an April North Korean-linked hack, a Tether-assisted asset recovery arrangement, a full security overhaul, completed audits, and open-sourcing, which together shift Velocity from incident response back into normal operations. Watch three things next: how much of the unrecovered user assets are actually returned, whether open-sourced code and audit reports attract independent scrutiny rather than just marketing attention, and whether trading volume and liquidity rebuild toward the $150 billion cumulative figure the Solana perp venue previously claimed. Cindy's stated preference for zero-to-one building also leaves open where she resurfaces, which could matter for Solana DeFi talent flows.

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PANews reported on September 30 that Cindy, co-founder of Velocity (formerly Drift Protocol), announced she will step down from her role at Velocity. The protocol will continue to be operated by the existing team. Cindy recalled that five and a half years ago she and her co-founder built an on-chain perpetual contract exchange, which launched on Solana in November 2021 with cumulative trading volume exceeding $150 billion. In April this year, the project suffered a North Korean hacker attack. After 10 sleepless nights, the team reached an agreement with Tether to facilitate the recovery of user assets, and rebuilt the exchange after a comprehensive security upgrade. Velocity has now completed its audit and is fully open source, officially restarting today. The team will continue to advance asset recovery, technology upgrades, and growth efforts. Cindy said she is better at building from 0 to 1, and will now explore her personal next direction while continuing to support Velocity.

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