Carrot DeFi Platform Shuts Down as First Victim of $285M Drift Protocol Exploit

According to Carrot's announcement on April 30, the Solana-based DeFi yield protocol is permanently shutting down, becoming the first platform to close as a direct result of the $285 million Drift Protocol exploit in early April. The Carrot team stated in an X post that the Drift hack was "catastrophic" and left the protocol financially unable to continue operating.

Carrot's total value locked plummeted 93% from approximately $28 million to $1.99 million following the exploit, according to DefiLlama. The platform had been deeply integrated with Drift's infrastructure, using its pools to generate yield—an integration that became a critical vulnerability when Drift was compromised. Users have until May 14 to withdraw remaining funds from Boost, Turbo, and CRT products before the team begins deleveraging all positions. Carrot confirmed it will participate in distributing any recovered Drift assets via an IOU token based on an April 1 snapshot. The closure is part of a broader contagion affecting at least 20 protocols with exposure to Drift, with April marking the largest monthly DeFi losses since February 2025.