Drift

DeFi

Polymarket

Carrot

Solana-based decentralized finance yield protocol Carrot said Thursday that it is shutting down permanently, becoming one of the first DeFi protocols to fall due to contagion from the Drift Protocol exploit in early April.&nbsp;
In an X <a href="https://x.com/deficarrot/status/2049907092664762624" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">post</a> on Thursday, Carrot said the Drift exploit was “catastrophic” for the protocol and had left it financially unable to continue operating. The platform set a May 14 deadline for users to withdraw remaining funds. It said it will continue to help recovery efforts related to Drift and distribute assets once they become available.
“We are setting May 14th as the deadline to withdraw any remaining funds from Boost, Turbo, and CRT before we will then begin to deleverage the system. Your deposited funds are still yours, but all leverage will be reduced to zero, freeing up all liquidity for CRT redemption,” the protocol’s team said.
The Drift protocol exploit on April 1 was the second-largest in 2026. It was a <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/drift-protocol-exploit-preparation-preliminary-findings" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">highly coordinated attack</a> that involved months of social engineering by a group of hackers who gained admin control and drained more than half the protocol's total value locked.&nbsp;
The contagion spread to several affiliated projects such as the yield protocol Gauntlet, the lending and borrowing platform PrimeFi and the crypto fund Elemental DeFi.&nbsp;
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/polymarket-chainalysis-insider-betting-detection-prediction-marketsv" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Insider trading backlash forces Polymarket to step up surveillance</a>
Carrot was integrated with Drift’s infrastructure and used its pools to generate yield for its users. Its TVL collapsed after the Drift Protocol hack.&nbsp;
According to <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/carrot" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">data</a> from DefiLlama, Carrot’s total value locked was around $28 million before the Drift hack, and is currently $1.99 million, marking a decrease of roughly 93%.
<img alt="DeFi protocol Carrot becomes first casualty of $285M Drift exploit" height="723" src="https://payload.lum-tri.org/api/media/file/pasted-image-216.png?prefix=media%2Fcontent" width="1445">
Carrot's sharp TVL drop after the Drift hack. Source: <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/carrot" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DefiLlama</a>
DefiLlama data also shows <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-hacks-cause-630m-losses-in-april-highest-since-february-2025" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">nearly $630 million</a> worth of digital assets were stolen in April across 25 incidents, making it the month with the largest losses since February 2025, when $1.47 billion was stolen.
The <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/restaking-platform-kelp-exploited-293-million" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$293 million hack</a> on liquid staking protocol Kelp is the largest exploit of 2026 so far. The Drift hack is close behind at $285 million. Together, these two attacks account for more than 90% of all crypto stolen in April.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph-magazine.com/exploits-uncovered-by-ai-could-kill-defi-unless-projects-act-now/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">AI-driven hacks could kill DeFi — unless projects act now</a>

DeFi protocol Carrot becomes first casualty of $285M Drift exploit

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on May 1, 2026

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