Drift Protocol Hacked for $270M, Bitcoin Ends Losing Streak, France Launches On-Chain IPO

Weekly Wrap: Drift Protocol Loses $285M, <a href="https://jpyeur.com/btc-usd/">Bitcoin</a>’s First Green Month, France Goes On-Chain

Key Highlights

Drift Protocol was exploited for over $270 million in the largest DeFi hack of 2026, with investigators linking the attack to a North Korean state-affiliated group that spent six months infiltrating the protocol.
Bitcoin closed March with a modest 1.84% gain, printing its first green monthly candle since September 2025 and ending its longest losing streak since 2018, while daily transaction fees dropped to a 13-year low.
The CLARITY Act stablecoin bill moved closer to finalization with Coinbase’s CLO saying a deal is 48 hours away, as the CFTC tightened its grip on crypto and prediction markets, and India’s crypto policy got delayed again.

Here’s a look at what happened in the crypto market this week. While last week focused on big investors and global events, this week was dominated by a major security breach in the DeFi space, Bitcoin showing positive momentum on its monthly chart, progress towards clear rules for stablecoins, and a significant development for digital securities in France.

In my latest research, I’ve been following several key developments in the crypto space. I’m looking into the recent Drift Protocol hack and the evidence pointing to North Korean involvement, as well as Bitcoin’s positive performance with a green monthly close. I’m also tracking the ongoing negotiations around the CLARITY Act and its potential impact on stablecoins. It’s exciting to see France’s progress with its on-chain IPO – a real milestone! Of course, I’m also monitoring the latest regulatory moves from bodies like the CFTC and in India, and unfortunately, the increasing number of security breaches continues to be a major concern. Let’s dive into the details.

Top headlines for this week

Below are the major headlines, giving an overview of what happened in the crypto market this week.

Drift Protocol Exploited for $270M in Largest DeFi Hack of 2026

This week, Drift Protocol, a decentralized exchange built on Solana, suffered a major security breach resulting in losses exceeding $270 million. In about an hour on April 1st, the amount of money held in the exchange’s accounts plummeted from $309 million to less than $41 million. The timing of the attack – occurring on April Fools’ Day – initially led people to believe early reports were jokes, delaying recognition of the seriousness of the situation.

Hackers exploited a feature in Solana called “durable nonces” to authorize transactions in advance, allowing them to steal funds from Drift without finding any flaws in the platform’s code. The theft involved a wide range of digital assets, totaling over $227 million, including $155.6 million in JLP tokens, $60.4 million in USDC, and $11.3 million in cbBTC.

The hacker swiftly converted the stolen digital tokens into Ethereum and transferred the funds across multiple blockchains, a method similar to the one used in the recent Bybit hack, according to Ledger’s Chief Technology Officer.

A recent investigation by Drift revealed a North Korean hacking group spent six months secretly gaining access to their systems. The attackers pretended to be a legitimate trading company, attending industry events and even investing over $1 million. They then exploited a security flaw in a mobile app and a weakness in the VSCode code editor to compromise devices and gain control.

The value of the DRIFT token plummeted over 20% right away and has since lost about 98% of its highest value. There’s currently no sign of investors getting their money back.

This is the biggest Solana dApp hack to date, and the third significant attack in recent months *not* caused by a flaw in the code itself. Increasingly, hackers are exploiting people and security weaknesses in how systems are run, rather than bugs in the code, and this is a worrying trend for all of DeFi.

Bitcoin Ends Five-Month Losing Streak, But Context Matters

Bitcoin finished March at around $68,215, showing a small increase of 1.84%. This marked the first month of gains since September 2025, ending a streak of consecutive monthly losses not seen since the 2018 bear market. From October 2025 to February 2026, Bitcoin’s price dropped from a peak of $126,080 to around $60,000, resulting in a loss of approximately $1.57 trillion from the overall cryptocurrency market.

While the monthly price chart looks positive, March was actually a volatile month for Bitcoin. The price surged to $76,000 in the middle of the month, but then fell back to below $65,000 by the end. Currently, investor sentiment remains fearful, as indicated by the Fear and Greed Index, and Bitcoin’s price is still below key moving averages. The total value of the cryptocurrency market is around $2.4 trillion.

As a researcher tracking Bitcoin, I’ve noticed something interesting: daily transaction fees recently hit their lowest point since 2011. This suggests that demand for using the Bitcoin network itself is slowing down, even though the price has stabilized a bit. Looking at the Network Value to Transactions (NVT) ratio, currently at 43, it really highlights how disconnected Bitcoin’s price is from how much the network is actually being used.

Despite market conditions, companies continued to buy Bitcoin. Metaplanet added 5,075 BTC in the first quarter of 2026, bringing them closer to their goal of holding 100,000 BTC. American Bitcoin Corp currently holds 7,000 BTC, but their stock price is still facing challenges. Meanwhile, U.S. senators have proposed legislation to support Bitcoin mining within the country, arguing it’s important for national energy independence.

CLARITY Act Inches Closer as Coinbase Says Deal is 48 Hours Away

Progress is being made on regulating stablecoins. According to Coinbase’s top lawyer, a deal on the CLARITY Act could be reached within two days. This suggests banks and cryptocurrency firms are close to an agreement on how to limit yields.

As an analyst, I’ve been closely following the progress of this bill – it’s easily been the most debated crypto legislation of the year. Essentially, it’s trying to clarify what kinds of rewards stablecoins can offer without disrupting the traditional banking system. Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks have been spearheading the talks, and just this week, I understand that people from both the crypto and banking industries met with legislative staff to go over the latest draft of the compromise.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) increased its oversight of cryptocurrency, prediction markets, and manipulative trading practices. This week also saw Kalshi, a prediction market platform, suffer a legal defeat when a Nevada court continued its ban on the service. Meanwhile, Malta disagreed with the European Union regarding the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) expanding authority over crypto, creating more challenges for Europe’s developing regulations.

France Set to Launch World’s First Fully On-Chain IPO

France is taking a major step forward in the world of digital finance with the first-ever initial public offering (IPO) conducted entirely on a blockchain. On April 9th, aerospace parts supplier ST Group, located near Toulouse, will list its shares on Lise, a new trading platform that uses blockchain technology to handle both trading and the final settlement of transactions – all in one place.

Lise’s initial public offering (IPO) is supported by major financial institutions including BNP Paribas, CACEIS (part of Credit Agricole), and Bpifrance, a French state investment bank. The company has received regulatory approval through the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime and believes it’s ahead of competitors like Securitize in the U.S. and SIX in Switzerland, as they haven’t yet launched a similar IPO fully conducted on a blockchain. Lise anticipates launching three to four more IPOs by the end of 2026.

Although the Nasdaq and NYSE have been discussing plans for trading tokens for months, France is the first to actually launch a platform. This move is significant for an industry that has long debated when tokenization would become a reality, and it’s likely to speed up development and adoption going forward.

Ethereum Moves, Ripple Partnerships, and India’s Policy Stall

The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking a significant amount of its Ether – $46 million worth – signaling a change in strategy from selling to holding. Meanwhile, Bitmine dramatically increased its Ether holdings, adding over 71,000 ETH in just one week. Even Lido, a major staking platform, is taking steps to support its token price by buying back some of its staked Ether.

Ripple teamed up with Convera to enable international payments using stablecoins, helping them reach more institutions in the payments industry. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s Justin Drake discussed a Google study about the potential impact of quantum computing on Bitcoin. Although Binance’s CZ acknowledged the risks of quantum computing, he emphasized the difficulties of preparing cryptocurrencies to defend against it.

India’s plans for crypto regulations have been put on hold once more, with the Reserve Bank of India halting discussions. This continues a trend of slow progress on crypto rules in the country. In response, CoinDCX, a crypto exchange, has launched a 100 crore rupee (approximately $12 million) ‘Digital Suraksha Network’ – a trust-building initiative – following the arrest of its founders. The move aims to restore confidence in a market that urgently needs clear regulations.

News You Might Have Missed

US Opens Door for Crypto in 401(k) Plans: A new proposal could allow digital assets in retirement accounts, potentially unlocking a massive new pool of capital.
Midnight Network Launches: The Cardano-backed Midnight Network debuted with a hybrid ledger and ZK-powered privacy, targeting enterprise use cases.
Axios Supply Chain Attack: A malicious dependency was deployed via npm in an Axios supply chain attack, adding to the growing list of developer tool compromises.
Hyperliquid Android App: Hyperliquid rolled out its official Android app MVP for early testing.
ZachXBT vs Circle: On-chain detective ZachXBT questioned Circle’s response to illicit USDC activity, reigniting the debate over when stablecoin issuers should freeze wallets.
SIREN Crashes 77% Again: The token crashed 77% for the third time in a row, fitting the textbook definition of a pump-and-dump.
StakeStone (STO) Pumps 900%: The STO token surged over 900% before a brutal 60% pullback, another reminder that parabolic runs rarely end well.

Buzz of the Week

This week, the crypto world saw a stark contrast between growing interest from traditional financial institutions and ongoing security concerns. Positive developments included France preparing to launch the first-ever IPO using blockchain technology, the potential passage of the CLARITY Act, and a significant $1.32 billion flowing into Bitcoin ETFs during March.

Meanwhile, North Korean hackers spent half a year secretly working within a large decentralized finance (DeFi) system before stealing $270 million, causing the value of the DRIFT token to plummet by 98%.

The recent Drift hack is likely to be the biggest story for the week, and potentially the next few months. Unlike many other crypto incidents, it wasn’t caused by a flaw in the code or a financial manipulation. Instead, it was a carefully planned social engineering attack that took advantage of people’s trust, industry events, and existing professional connections.

The attackers carefully built trust by interacting with the community directly and using real funds before launching their attack. If decentralized finance (DeFi) can’t protect against this type of subtle, inside infiltration, larger investors will likely require much stronger security measures before investing.

This week, the stablecoin market reached $317 billion, with $1.36 billion flowing in. Total transactions using stablecoins have now exceeded $28 trillion this year, exceeding the volume processed by major payment networks like Visa and Mastercard. These numbers are significant, which is why the debate around the CLARITY Act and stablecoin yields is so important.

What to expect for next week?

The coming week will likely depend on two key factors: the release of the full text of the CLARITY Act, and whether Bitcoin can successfully stay within or break through the $68,000 to $70,000 price level.

If Coinbase meets its two-day deadline and the details of the stablecoin agreement are published, it could be the most important development in crypto legislation this year. The debate over restrictions on yield-generating crypto products has been the main hurdle to creating a complete set of rules for the crypto market, and resolving it would give institutional investors more confidence. However, things in Washington often take longer than expected, and banks still have some influence over the process.

Bitcoin needs to definitively break through the $70,000 mark to improve market confidence. While the recent positive monthly performance was encouraging, low investor confidence (as indicated by the Fear and Greed Index) and limited on-chain activity suggest this price increase is mainly driven by money flowing into Bitcoin ETFs and purchases by companies. Historically, April has been a good month for Bitcoin, with average gains of 12.1%, but this year, past performance isn’t a reliable indicator of future results.

France’s planned digital IPO on April 9th will be a significant test of the technology used for trading tokenized securities. A successful launch of ST Group’s listing on the Lise platform could pave the way for many smaller European businesses currently unable to afford traditional stock exchange listings. However, any problems with the process will likely fuel criticism of this new approach for years to come.

The consequences of the recent Drift hack will likely continue to be felt for some time. Drift needs to release a complete report detailing what happened, the crypto industry needs to address how the attacker tricked people, and government regulators will probably use the $270 million loss as a reason to increase control over decentralized finance (DeFi). This incident highlights the growing challenge of balancing open access with protection against sophisticated, potentially state-backed attacks.

2026-04-05 22:46