| FEATURE | DRIFT | EXTENDED |
|---|---|---|
| Type | DEX | DEX |
| Taker Fee | 0.06% | 0.025% |
| Maker Fee | -0.0025% | 0% |
| Max Leverage | 20x | 100x |
| Perp Pairs | 4 | 326 |
| Spot Trading | No | Yes |
| KYC Required | No | No |
| Rating | 2.5 | 4.1 |
Drift vs Extended: key differences
Drift is still in recovery after a security incident. Read the status notice in the Drift review before depositing.
Opening and closing a $10,000 position with market orders costs $5.00 on Extended and $12.00 on Drift at base-tier taker fees, a difference of $7.00 per round trip.
For limit orders, Drift pays makers a 0.0025% rebate, while Extended charges makers nothing.
Extended allows up to 100x leverage against 20x on Drift. The headline figure usually applies to a few markets only, so check the limit on the pair you trade.
Extended lists 326 perpetual markets, Drift lists 4.
Extended also has spot trading; Drift is perpetuals only.
Neither exchange requires KYC: both are used by connecting a wallet.
Margin is posted in USDT, SOL, wBTC, wETH on Drift and in USDC, USDT, wBTC, ETH +1 more on Extended.
Figures as of 2026-10-04, from each exchange's documentation, CoinGecko and DeFiLlama.
Costs, liquidity and safety in detail
| Drift | Extended | |
|---|---|---|
| Taker round trip on $10,000 | $12.00 | $5.00 |
| Maker round trip on $10,000 | $0.50 rebate | $0 |
| Best-tier taker fee | 0.02% | 0.025% |
| BTC max leverage | 20x | 50x |
| Margin modes | cross-margin | cross, isolated |
| 24h volume | — | $181M |
| TVL | $343M | $122M |
| Custody | non-custodial | non-custodial |
| Collateral | USDT, SOL, wBTC, wETH | USDC, USDT, wBTC, ETH +1 more |
| Deposit networks | Solana | Starknet, Ethereum, Arbitrum +5 more |
| Minimum order | — | $10 |
| Order types | 11 | 7 |
| Options | No | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | No |
| Testnet or demo | No | Yes |
| Vaults or copy trading | No | No |
| Insurance fund | Yes | Yes |
| Audited | Yes | Yes |
| Restricted jurisdictions | — | 13 |
| Founded | 2021 | 2024 |
Choose Drift if
- You have read its recovery status first: users affected by the earlier incident have not been made whole.
- You place limit orders: makers earn a 0.0025% rebate.
- You trade from a phone: Drift has a mobile app.
Choose Extended if
- You mostly use market orders: 0.025% taker fee against 0.06% on Drift.
- You want higher leverage: up to 100x against 20x.
- You trade smaller or newer markets: 326 perpetual pairs against 4.
- You want spot and perpetuals in one account.
- You want a sign-up discount: 10% off fees through a referral link.
Drift
PROS
- + Trading is open again: the public beta has been available to all users since September 21, 2026, with BTC, ETH and SOL perpetuals at up to 20x leverage and HYPE at up to 10x
- + Makers receive a 0.0025% rebate on post-only orders at every volume tier, and the taker fee falls from 0.06% to 0.02% above 200 million dollars in 30-day volume
- + One cross-margin account accepts USDT, SOL, wBTC and wETH as collateral, and deposits earn lending interest while they back positions
CONS
- − About 286 million dollars was stolen on April 1, 2026 through compromised administrator keys, and verified user losses are about 295.4 million dollars
- − Affected users have recovered about 1 percent so far: each DFX recovery token redeemed for about 0.0104 USDT from a 3.11 million USDT pool in early October 2026
- − The relaunched exchange lists four perpetual markets, down from more than 40 before the exploit, and spot order book trading was removed
Extended
PROS
- + 326 active perpetual markets: 195 crypto and 131 real-world asset markets, including 112 equities plus gold, oil, FX and stock indices
- + 0% maker fee and 0.025% taker fee on crypto markets, 0.010% taker fee on RWA markets, and maker rebates up to 0.010% for a 30-day market share of 5% or more
- + Multi-asset collateral: USDC counts at 100% of its value toward margin, USDT at 95%, and wBTC, ETH and XVS vault shares at 90%
CONS
- − Restricted in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Hong Kong, Seychelles and sanctioned countries (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria); the Terms of Use forbid using a VPN to bypass this
- − BTC and ETH leverage is capped at 50x, and the 100x maximum applies only to the EUR/USD market
- − TVL of about 122 million dollars and 24-hour volume of about 181 million dollars are well below the largest perp DEXes, which means less depth for large orders
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Drift or Extended better?
Extended has a higher rating (4.1 vs 2.5). Extended offers lower fees (0.025% vs 0.06%). Choose Drift for its features, and Extended for lower fees.
What are the fees on Drift vs Extended?
Drift charges 0.06% taker / -0.0025% maker. Extended charges 0.025% taker / 0% maker for perpetuals.
Which has higher leverage, Drift or Extended?
Drift offers up to 20x, and Extended offers up to 100x (50x on BTC). Maximum leverage applies to selected markets and falls as position size grows on both exchanges.
Do Drift and Extended require KYC?
Drift does not require KYC. Extended does not require KYC. Both restrict some jurisdictions (Drift publishes no list we could verify; Extended lists 13), so check the terms of service for your country before depositing.
Is Drift or Extended safer?
Drift has been audited and runs an insurance fund, and custody is non-custodial. Extended has been audited and runs an insurance fund, and custody is non-custodial. Neither audits nor insurance funds remove smart contract risk, so size deposits accordingly.