Story of Startup Drift: Solana-based DEX for perpetual futures, offering fast, efficient, and non-custodial trading
Story of startup Drift:
Early Career Beginnings
Cindy Leow’s journey began far from the world of
decentralized finance. In 2014, she worked as an editorial intern at Fashion
Online Malaysia, covering events like Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week and brand
launches. That same year, she became director of marketing at AppleTree, where
she produced promotional content and helped adapt campaigns for different
languages.
Exploring Writing and Strategy
Between 2014 and 2016, Leow worked as a freelance writer and
strategist. She developed content for clients across multiple industries and
created communication strategies tailored to diverse audiences. These early
roles sharpened her ability to think creatively and communicate complex ideas
effectively.
Leading a Social Cause
In 2015, she stepped into a leadership role as the executive
director of the Kuala Lumpur chapter of the 24 Hour Race, a youth-driven
movement fighting human trafficking. She managed volunteers, secured funding,
and expanded the event’s reach—an experience that built her leadership and
organizational skills.
Exposure to Global Opportunities
By 2016, Leow joined McKinsey & Company’s Young Leaders
Academy. There, she co-created a food redistribution platform and formed
partnerships with corporations. The following year, she worked with MEET, a
nonprofit in San Francisco that focused on tech education in the Middle East,
deepening her exposure to global impact initiatives.
Expanding to Asia’s Startup Scene
Later in 2017, she worked with the Minerva Project in China,
building partnerships and educational programs. That summer, she joined Ideate
Investments in Shanghai, analyzing opportunities in AI, clean energy, and
medical technology. Soon after, she advised Softbank Korea on early-stage
investments in China, focusing on AI, IoT, and healthcare startups.
Entering Finance and Trading
From 2019 to 2021, Leow became a portfolio manager at 256
Capital. There, she created quantitative strategies and managed a derivatives
trading portfolio. This role gave her deep financial expertise, which later
became essential in her shift to decentralized finance.
Story of startup Drift: Solana-based DEX for perpetual futures, offering fast, efficient, and non-custodial trading#startup#AI#Entrepreneur#Drift story
Founding Drift
In May 2021, Leow co-founded Drift Labs, a decentralized
exchange protocol built on the Solana blockchain. Drift focused on perpetual
futures, spot trading, lending, and prediction markets—all in one platform. Its
goal was to offer fast, efficient trading while keeping the transparency and
security of decentralization.
Facing Early Challenges
Like many crypto projects, Drift faced turbulence during
volatile market conditions. The collapse of Luna shook the industry, and Drift
itself suffered a $15 million loss due to an accounting error. Despite this
setback, the team prioritized user trust by refunding affected traders, even
after raising $20 million in funding.
Building Innovative Solutions
To stay ahead, Drift introduced Swift, a feature that
allowed orders to be placed off-chain for speed but settled on-chain for
security. This hybrid model improved trading efficiency without compromising
decentralization, making Drift a standout in the competitive decentralized
exchange landscape.
Becoming a DeFi Super Protocol
By 2025, Drift had grown from a perpetuals platform into
what Leow described as a “DeFi super protocol.” It introduced features like
cross-margining and unified collateral pools, giving users seamless access to
multiple financial tools. Drift processed over $100 billion in trading
volume and reached $1.5 billion in deposits, cementing itself as a
major force in DeFi.
Institutional Adoption of DeFi
Leow often highlighted the growing overlap between
traditional finance and DeFi. At Drift DeFi Day in New York, she noted how
institutions were showing interest in private credit and real-world assets
(RWAs). Drift responded by combining RWAs with blockchain features to enhance
liquidity and yield, pushing DeFi closer to mainstream finance.
Conversations on Capital Markets
At the same event, Leow and Lily Liu discussed how DeFi
could reshape capital markets. They pointed out inefficiencies in IPOs and
imagined a future where blockchain improved equity issuance and liquidity. They
also noted Solana’s role in enabling scalable financial applications and framed
Bitcoin as a foundational asset in future capital markets.
Vision for the Future
Looking forward, Leow envisions Drift as a platform that
democratizes finance. Just as early blockchain projects aimed to empower the
unbanked, Drift seeks to bring institutional-grade financial tools to everyone.
With strong funding, global recognition, and innovative features, Drift is
positioning itself as a bridge between decentralized systems and traditional
markets.
Drift Timeline
- 2014
– Leow starts as editorial intern at Fashion Online Malaysia; becomes
director of marketing at AppleTree.
- 2014–2016
– Freelance writer and strategist, building content and communication
plans.
- 2015
– Executive director of 24 Hour Race Kuala Lumpur, leading
anti-trafficking efforts.
- 2016
– Joins McKinsey’s Young Leaders Academy, co-develops food redistribution
platform.
- 2017
– Works at MEET in San Francisco on tech education; supports Minerva
Project in China.
- 2017
– Strategy role at Ideate Investments in Shanghai; later advises Softbank
Korea on AI and IoT.
- 2019–2021
– Portfolio manager at 256 Capital, managing derivatives and trading
strategies.
- May
2021 – Co-founds Drift Labs, building a DeFi platform on Solana.
- 2022
– Faces $15M accounting loss but refunds users, maintaining trust.
- 2023
– Drift integrates Swift for faster, hybrid off-chain/on-chain trading.
- 2024
– Platform grows into a DeFi super protocol with $100B trading volume,
$1.5B deposits.
- 2025
– Leow presents Drift’s vision at TOKEN2049 Dubai; highlights
institutional DeFi adoption.
- Future
– Plans to expand asset classes and strengthen DeFi-TradFi convergence.
