Drift Launches v3 Update, Promising Even Faster Trade Execution

Drift Labs has released Drift v3, an extensive performance upgrade to one of Solana’s leading perpetual decentralized exchanges. This release marks the most significant update since the protocol’s launch and introduces faster execution, deeper liquidity, and a redesigned interface tailored for active traders. The upgrade arrives amid rapid expansion in Solana’s derivatives markets, setting a new benchmark for decentralized trading performance.

The upgrade arrives during a period of rapid expansion in Solana’s derivatives markets and follows rising criticism that Solana has struggled to match the execution quality of platforms such as Hyperliquid and Lighter. Observers have noted that despite Solana’s strong growth in perp volumes, the ecosystem has not yet matched the consistency and latency performance of these competitors. Drift v3 appears to serve as a direct response to that pressure, aiming to close the gap and raise the network’s standards for high-performance trading.

Faster Speed and Redesigned User Interface

Drift hosted a town hall on December 2 featuring co-founder Cindy Leow. The speakers walked through the evolution of the protocol from late 2024 to 2025, noting features such as Drift Vaults, gasless trading, and custom leverage per market. They emphasized that Drift v3 builds on this progress and aims to outperform prior performance gains.

Drift v3 rebuilds the exchange’s execution layer and delivers 10x-faster order fills than v2. According to Drift Labs, 85% of market orders now execute within a single Solana slot, or about 400 milliseconds. These gains bring the trading experience closer to those of centralized exchanges. The team aims to achieve a tenfold improvement in liquidity, bringing average slippage on large trades down to 2 bps.

Risk management features also benefit from the upgrade. According to Drift Labs, take profit and stop loss orders now trigger within a single slot, cutting execution times from roughly 6 seconds to 400 milliseconds. Drift continues to abstract gas fees for users while refreshing oracle prices every 400 milliseconds to reduce stale pricing.

Drift v3 introduces a full redesign of the exchange’s user interface to support higher speeds and offer a more intuitive workflow. The update includes a new portfolio dashboard that consolidates asset visibility, unrealized and realized P&L data, and open positions. Traders can now view performance across cumulative, daily, and calendar formats.

A unified account panel now displays all trading and non-trading accounts in one place, including strategy vaults, Insurance Fund vaults, and $DRIFT staking. Drift has also refreshed its Borrow and Lend interface to simplify navigation and reduce friction.

Perpetual Futures on Solana

Drift v3 arrives during a strong period for perpetual futures trading on Solana. Messari’s State of Solana Q3 Report shows that Solana’s average daily perp DEX volume grew 93 percent quarter over quarter to $1.6 billion. 

Jupiter led the quarter with an average of $726 million in average daily perp trading volume and a 44.3% market share. Drift recorded $465 million in average daily volume, a 248.4% increase, resulting in a 28.4% share. The platform hit $1 billion in daily volume for the first time during this period.

Pacifica followed with $404.1 million in average daily volume since launching in June 2025 and reached a 24.7% share.

Roadmap and Liquidity Expansion

Drift v3 will continue to evolve after launch. The team plans to introduce auto-signing, direct deposits from multiple sources, and Isolated Margin. A mobile app is also in development with a planned release on both iOS and Google Play.

The upgrade also aligns with the private beta launch of the Drift Liquidity Provider Pool. This pool enables permissionless liquidity provision for both perp and spot markets and provides depositors with access to yield generated by trading activity.

Drift v3 represents a major step forward in decentralized derivatives trading on Solana. With further improvements planned for 2026 and strong momentum across the Solana perpetuals market, Drift’s latest release positions the protocol for continued growth in a competitive landscape.

Time will tell whether these updates can help Solana close the performance gap with platforms such as Hyperliquid and strengthen its position in the competitive derivatives landscape.

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