Velocity vs Veranta
Velocity (formerly Drift) on Solana and Veranta (formerly Avantis) on Base, compared on current fees, markets, leverage and the state of Velocity's exploit recovery.
1. Two renames in one quarter
Both exchanges changed their names in the third quarter of 2026. Drift has operated as Velocity since July 1, 2026, at velocity.exchange. Avantis became Veranta on September 14, 2026, and avantisfi.com now redirects to veranta.xyz. The AVNT token kept its ticker and contract address after the rename.
The two renames are different in kind. Veranta is the same protocol under a new name, with a V2 release that went live in August 2026. Velocity is a fork of the Drift v2 program that relaunched after an exploit, with fewer markets, lower leverage, a higher base fee and USDT in place of the old settlement asset.
2. The April 1, 2026 Drift exploit and where recovery stands
On April 1, 2026, attackers gained control of Drift's administrator keys and drained about 286 million dollars from three core vaults (JLP Delta Neutral, SOL Super Staking and BTC Super Staking) in roughly 12 minutes. Mandiant and TRM Labs linked the attack to a North Korean group. Verified user losses are about 295.4 million dollars.
Trading was suspended until a private beta opened on July 1, 2026. The whitelist was removed on September 21, 2026, which opened the public beta to everyone. Before that, OtterSec audited the post-fork code and reported 154 findings, none critical. All 41 high-severity findings are fixed in the deployed program.
Repayment has barely started. Affected users can claim one DFX recovery token per USDT lost. Claims opened on October 1, 2026 and stay open until January 1, 2028. The recovery pool held 3.11 million USDT in early October, so each DFX redeemed for about 0.0104 USDT. The pool receives 60% to 90% of Velocity's daily net protocol revenue. Tether committed up to 127.5 million USDT and partners up to 20 million USDT, and according to The Block's report of October 2, 2026 those funds were not yet in the pool. About 9.2 million dollars of stolen funds are frozen. Co-founder Cindy Leow stepped down on September 29, 2026.
3. Veranta: 148 markets from one USDC account
Veranta launched on Base mainnet in February 2024 and has recorded over 20 billion dollars in cumulative volume. Every trade settles against a shared USDC vault at oracle prices from Pyth and Chainlink. Its public API lists 148 markets: 55 crypto pairs, 10 forex pairs, 4 commodities, and 79 equities and indices. US equities trade 24 hours a day, five days a week.
Upside Perps are the renamed Zero-Fee Perpetuals. They are live on BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP and HYPE and have no opening, closing or borrow fee. A losing trade pays no platform fee, and a winning trader keeps 75% to 95% of the profit, with the share rising with ROI.
Veranta's TVL is about 11.4 million dollars on DeFiLlama, which is small next to larger perp DEXs. Its terms of service bar US persons and residents of Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria.
4. Fees: maker rebate on Velocity, skew-based pricing on Veranta
Velocity charges a 0.06% taker fee for accounts under 5 million dollars in 30-day volume and pays makers a 0.0025% rebate on post-only orders at every tier. The taker fee falls to 0.05%, 0.04% and then 0.02% above 200 million dollars in 30-day volume. Individual markets can add up to 0.10% on top. Before the exploit the base taker fee was 0.035%.
Veranta prices crypto trades by open-interest skew instead of order type. A trade that adds to the heavier side of a market pays 0.045% at open and close, and a trade that joins the lighter side pays 0.001%. Forex, commodities, indices and equities have zero maker and taker fees while those markets are in what the team calls growth mode. Spread and hourly funding apply on every market. Staking AVNT cuts fixed fees by up to 30%.
| Fee | Velocity | Veranta |
|---|---|---|
| Base taker (crypto perps) | 0.06% | 0.045% |
| Base maker (crypto perps) | 0.0025% rebate, post-only | 0.001% |
| Best published taker tier | 0.02% above 200 million dollars in 30-day volume | 0.0315% with the top AVNT staking discount |
| Non-crypto markets | Not listed | Zero maker and taker during growth mode |
5. Leverage and margin
Velocity offers up to 20x on BTC, ETH and SOL perpetuals and up to 10x on HYPE, all in one cross-margin account. The 101x High Leverage Mode that Drift offered before April 2026 is not listed on Velocity.
Veranta's 500x maximum applies to FX majors (USDJPY, EURUSD, GBPUSD) and to BTC, ETH and SOL Upside Perps. Fixed-fee crypto majors are capped at 50x and altcoins at 40x. Metals reach 200x, indices and FX minors 100x, US equities and oil 25x. Limits are cut around macro events and weekends: gold drops from 200x to 25x ahead of US CPI reports, for example. All positions use isolated margin and are liquidated at an 85% loss of collateral, and profit on a single position is capped at 2500% of collateral on most markets.
6. Collateral and settlement
Velocity settles perpetuals in USDT and accepts USDT, SOL, wBTC and wETH as collateral in a single cross-margin account. Deposits earn lending interest while they back positions. Deposits come in over Solana only, and spot order book trading was removed in the relaunch.
Veranta accepts only USDC and runs only on Base. Trading is gasless: users sign orders and the protocol pays the Base gas, so no ETH is needed. Traders on Veranta have no dedicated insurance fund. LP shortfalls are covered by a vault buffer and the AVNT Security Module, where up to 20% of staked AVNT can be slashed.
A note on TVL figures: DeFiLlama's number for the parent Drift slug (about 343 million dollars) is almost entirely Drift Staked SOL, and DeFiLlama reports no TVL for Velocity itself yet. It should not be read as money deposited on the relaunched exchange.
| FEATURE | VELOCITY | VERANTA |
|---|---|---|
| Type | DEX | DEX |
| Taker Fee | 0.06% | 0.045% |
| Maker Fee | -0.0025% | 0.001% |
| Max Leverage | 20x | 500x |
| Perp Pairs | 4 | 148 |
| Spot Trading | No | No |
| KYC Required | No | No |
| Rating | 2.5 | 3.5 |
Velocity In recovery
PROS
- + Public beta open to all users since September 21, 2026, with BTC, ETH and SOL perpetuals at up to 20x and HYPE at up to 10x
- + Makers receive a 0.0025% rebate on post-only orders at every volume tier
- + One cross-margin account accepts USDT, SOL, wBTC and wETH, and deposits earn lending interest
- + OtterSec audit of the post-fork code: 154 findings, none critical, all 41 high-severity findings fixed
- + Recovery pool receives 60% to 90% of daily net protocol revenue
CONS
- − About 286 million dollars stolen on April 1, 2026 through compromised administrator keys
- − Exploit victims have recovered about 1 percent so far: about 0.0104 USDT per DFX from a 3.11 million USDT pool
- − Tether and partner commitments were not yet deposited as of October 2, 2026, per The Block
- − Four perpetual markets, down from more than 40 before the exploit, and no spot order book
- − Base taker fee rose from 0.035% to 0.06%, and maximum leverage dropped from 101x to 20x
Veranta
PROS
- + 148 markets from one USDC account: 55 crypto pairs, 10 forex pairs, 4 commodities, 79 equities and indices
- + Crypto fees of 0.045% taker and 0.001% maker per side; zero maker and taker fees on non-crypto markets during growth mode
- + Up to 500x on FX majors and on BTC, ETH and SOL Upside Perps
- + Gasless trading with no KYC: log in with an EVM wallet, email, SMS, Google or X
- + V2 audited by Sherlock, Zellic and Guardian; earlier versions by Zellic, Zokyo and Sherlock
CONS
- − USDC is the only collateral, and the exchange runs on Base only
- − Fixed-fee crypto leverage is capped at 50x on majors and 40x on altcoins; higher crypto leverage requires Upside Perps, which take 5% to 25% of profit
- − No dedicated insurance fund for traders
- − The V2 audit reports were not yet published on the audits page as of October 2026
- − TVL of about 11.4 million dollars on DeFiLlama, and no native mobile app is documented
We do not show a sign-up link for Velocity while its exploit recovery is in progress. If you are looking at other venues, see the Velocity alternatives and Veranta alternatives pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Velocity and Veranta the same exchanges as Drift and Avantis?
Yes. Velocity (formerly Drift) has used its new name since July 1, 2026, and Veranta (formerly Avantis) since September 14, 2026. Velocity is a fork of the Drift v2 program on Solana with USDT settlement. Veranta is the same Base protocol under a new name, and the AVNT token kept its ticker and contract address.
Can I trade on Velocity right now?
Yes. Perpetual trading reopened in a private beta on July 1, 2026 and for all users on September 21, 2026. Velocity lists BTC, ETH, SOL and HYPE perpetuals settled in USDT, with up to 20x leverage. It is still labelled a public beta, and its exploit recovery is in progress.
Have victims of the Drift exploit been repaid?
Only about 1 percent so far. Since October 1, 2026 affected users can claim one DFX token per USDT lost. The recovery pool held 3.11 million USDT against about 295.4 million dollars in verified losses, so each DFX redeemed for about 0.0104 USDT. Tether's commitment of up to 127.5 million USDT was not yet deposited as of October 2, 2026.
What are Upside Perps on Veranta?
Upside Perps are the renamed Zero-Fee Perpetuals. They have no opening, closing or borrow fees, and a losing trade pays no platform fee. On a winning trade the trader keeps 75% to 95% of the profit, with the share rising with ROI. They are live on BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP and HYPE.
Which has higher leverage: Velocity or Veranta?
Veranta. Its maximum is 500x on FX majors and on BTC, ETH and SOL Upside Perps, with fixed-fee crypto majors capped at 50x and altcoins at 40x. Velocity offers up to 20x on BTC, ETH and SOL and up to 10x on HYPE.
Which has lower fees: Velocity or Veranta?
For takers at the base tier, Veranta: 0.045% on crypto against 0.06% on Velocity. Velocity pays makers a 0.0025% rebate on post-only orders, while Veranta charges 0.001% to trades that reduce open-interest skew. Veranta has zero maker and taker fees on forex, commodities, indices and equities during growth mode.
Which is safer: Velocity or Veranta?
Neither is risk-free. Velocity lost about 286 million dollars on April 1, 2026 through compromised administrator keys and remains in recovery, although OtterSec audited the relaunched code and reported no critical findings. Veranta V2 was audited by Sherlock, Zellic and Guardian, but those reports were not yet published as of October 2026, and traders have no dedicated insurance fund.