Cindy Leow and Chris Heaney join us to discuss how Drift is building the #1 trading experience on Solana. In this episode, we cover Drift's core design and liquidity layers, the advantages of perps, why Drift built on Solana, vertical vs horizontal integration, Drift's distribution framework, what DeFi got wrong and more!

- -

Timestamps

(00:00) Introduction

(00:48) Drift: Solana’s Perpetual Swaps Exchange

(01:55) The Advantages of Perps

(04:08) The Liquidity Trifecta: Drift’s 3 Layers of Liquidity

(14:19) Drift’s End Game

(17:54) Permissionless ad

(26:40) Why Build on Solana?

(27:40) Vertical and Horizontal Integration

(31:27) Abstracting the Underlying Chain

(34:58) How Drift Approaches Distribution

(40:41) Customer Acquisition

(43:52) What DeFi Got Wrong

(54:21) Hot Takes: NFTs Fail if DeFi Fails & Mutable Contracts

(59:40) Why Are You Building in Crypto?

(01:04:47) Regulation and Building in the US

(01:07:57) Rapid Fire

- -

Follow Cindy: https://twitter.com/cindyleowtt

Follow Chris: https://twitter.com/crispheaney

Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_

Follow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_

Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3Syk

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgV

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PD

Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/

- -

Use code LIGHTSPEED30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023

- -

Resources

Drift

https://linktr.ee/driftprotocol

https://twitter.com/DriftProtocol

- - 

Disclaimers:

Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation.

Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mert, Garrett and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.