Request For Delegates

[foundation]

The Drift Foundation is issuing a request for Delegates.

Summary:
The Drift Foundation is exploring starting a delegate program to increase the effectiveness of the DAO and ensure governance is aligned with key ecosystem stakeholders. The objective for the request for delegates is to publicly source delegates before the official proposal goes up to a vote. The request for delegates will also provide structure for potential delegates to transparently apply to be a Drift Delegate.

Target Delegates:
Drift is one of the leading DeFi protocols on Solana with an ecosystem of over 50 teams integrated into its products. Because of this, there are a large number of diverse stakeholders to Drift and the DAO. To align with the objective of delegation to support effective governance, it is important the DAO supports diversity in delegates selected.

Target delegate areas (not exhaustive)

Trade:

• Firms utilizing trading products
• Teams with listed markets
• Large traders
• Alternative trading interfaces
• Market Makers

Earn:

• Teams with assets integrated
• Teams building on top
• People/firms running looping strategies
• Teams managing vaults
• Large vault depositors

Ecosystem/ Community:

• Any team integrated with Drift products in any way
• Active members of the Drift community
• Active members of the Solana DeFi community

Roles and Responsibilities

Delegates are expected to complete two key functions:

1. Participate in discussion around proposals, sharing their viewpoint on the effects of the proposal on Drift’s ecosystem and whether it aligns with the DAO’s goals.
2. Vote on proposals in order to ensure the outcomes reflect their viewpoints and aligns with the ecosystem.

Delegates will have the option to receive a small amount of compensation for their time.

Application Process:
If you are interested in applying, please post your application as a response under this post with the following format.

• Title: Delegate Proposal – [Name]
• Brief paragraph summary of what you do.
• Brief paragraph describing how you are involved in the Drift ecosystem.
• Information on the person or people who will be directly responsible for delegate responsibilities (Name, Role, Twitter).

Please post your applications by July 1st to be considered for delegate selection. Initial selection will be at the discretion of the Drift Foundation but voted on along with a proposal to initiate the delegate program.

If you have any questions about the process or the roles, please reach out to @airtightsquid on telegram.

[glam]

About GLAM

glam.systems

GLAM builds onchain infrastructure for institutional asset managers to launch and operate tokenized investment products on Solana. It lets them set clear rules for who can access a product, how the money is handled, and what actions are allowed. Everything is enforced by code, not people, so it’s more secure, transparent, and efficient than traditional systems.

GLAM and the Drift Ecosystem

GLAM integrates with Drift to provide secure, policy-controlled access to its perp, spot, and lending products. Through GLAM Vaults, managers can define who is allowed to act, what actions are permitted, and under what conditions. For example, what specific markets can be accessed and which order types are allowed. By enforcing these rules at the protocol level, GLAM enables institutional teams to delegate execution while maintaining control and reducing operational risk.

GLAM also supports direct integration with Drift Vaults. One example is the Drift JLP SuperVault, which allocates capital across multiple Drift Vault strategies managed by teams like Gauntlet and Neutral Trade. Each underlying vault operates independently, while an automated system with narrow permissions coordinates the exposure.

Representatives

James Edwards
Co-founder & CTO
@jpe7s

James leads systems development at GLAM, focusing on core services and infrastructure. He brings over 15 years of experience and is the creator of Sava (sava.software), a Java SDK for Solana which includes Drift and Drift Vault clients.

Yuru Shao
Co-founder
@YuruShao

Yuru leads program development at GLAM, focusing on Solana programs and protocol logic. He brings a decade of experience in security and has built key components of GLAM, including vault mechanics, pricing logic, and DeFi integrations.

[jack]

About Pine Analytics:

Pine Analytics is a crypto-native analytics and research company that turns raw blockchain data into high-quality insights, dashboards, and content. We specialize in Solana and other high-throughput chains, blending deep on-chain analytics with infrastructure-level implementation to support protocols, investors, and power users. Our work powers governance bots, dashboards, protocol reports, and automated content systems.

Pine Analytics in the Drift ecosystem:

At Pine Analytics, we’ve been closely tracking Drift as part of our broader work analyzing activity across the Solana ecosystem. We regularly publish content and dashboards that highlight usage trends, protocol metrics, and on-chain behaviors. Recently, we’ve created content on Drift vaults—producing analytics and insights that examine their activity, risks, and user profiles. This work supports transparency and contributes to the ecosystem’s overall understanding of Drift’s impact and usage.

Representatives

Name: Jack Stewart
Role: Founder, Pine Analytics
Twitter: jackthepine

[BlockworksAdvisory]

About Blockworks Advisory

More On Blockworks Advisory

Blockworks Advisory Twitter

Blockworks Advisory is a sub-brand under Blockworks, focusing on providing advisory services, investor & community relations, and other consulting service provisions. We partner with protocol teams and communities, offering strategic guidance to drive growth and scale operations. Our goal is to allow developers to focus on building while we focus on protocol operations, market motions, and risk mitigation.

Relevant Track Record

Ethena:

• SOL Collateral Onboarding Analysis
• Hyperliquid Venue Deployment
• Reserve Fund Management

Arbitrum:

• LTIPP Retroactive Analysis
• Timeboost MEV Revenue and LP Impact Analysis
• STIP Sequencer Revenue Analysis
• STIP Operational Analysis

Lido:

• Governance Manual
• Optimistic Financial Reporting

Blockworks Advisory in the Drift Ecosystem

Blockworks Advisory is committed to supporting the growth and decentralization of Drift through active and informed governance participation. As Drift continues to scale, two critical areas for success will be a surgical expansion of its liquidity programs and the careful vetting of new institutional-grade assets.

Our team is well-positioned to provide expert guidance on both fronts. Our experience in economic modeling and design can help the DAO structure the strategic incentives required for successful liquidity provision. To support the safe onboarding of new markets, we can leverage our established track record in asset listing and risk screening, having performed similar work for protocols like Ethena and MoreMarkets. Our prior history operating, observing, and improving Lido, Jito, and Arbitrum, positions us as an experienced delegate; our goal as a delegate is to apply this expertise to governance, helping the Drift DAO navigate future growth opportunities.

Representatives

Name: Eric Diaz
Role: Protocol Strategist
Twitter: 0xLoso

Name: Darren Mims
Role: Protocol Strategist
Twitter: 0xMims

Name: Carolina Goldstein
Role: Senior Protocol Strategist
Twitter: GoldDefi

Name: Robert Burkhart
Role: Protocol Strategist
Twitter: rMalakaib

Name: Nikhil Chaturvedi
Role: Senior Protocol Strategist
Twitter: 0xnikhilchat

Name: David Rodriguez
Role: Head of Blockworks Advisory
Twitter: EffortCapital

[jim]

Delegate Proposal – Jim

I am an active participant in the Solana DeFi ecosystem and a dedicated individual user of Drift’s products, including trading and earn. I consistently advocate for features that benefit the broader community and improve the user experience.

Within the Drift ecosystem, I have been actively involved in community discussions, including supporting the onboarding of JLP as collateral to increase capital efficiency and enable new opportunities for users. I am particularly interested in pushing for more interoperability with other protocols, as I believe this is key to unlocking greater capital efficiency and enabling innovative strategies for both vault managers and everyday users. I want to represent the interests of individual users while contributing to Drift’s continued growth and alignment with the broader Solana DeFi landscape.

Representatives

Name: Jim
Role: Human
Twitter: @jimistgeil

[Chanil]

Delegate Proposal – Chanil

As an engaged member of the Solana DeFi community and regular user of Drift Protocol, I’ve developed a deep understanding of both the platform’s capabilities and areas for growth. My experience spans trading, yield strategies, and active participation in governance discussions.

My contributions to the ecosystem include:

• Advocating for enhanced collateral options to improve capital efficiency
• Proposing solutions for better cross-protocol integration
• Focusing on user experience improvements that benefit all participants

I’m particularly passionate about:

1. Expanding DeFi accessibility for individual users
2. Developing innovative yield strategies
3. Strengthening connections across Solana’s DeFi landscape

As your representative, I’ll work to:

• Ensure individual user perspectives remain central to governance decisions
• Promote sustainable growth strategies
• Facilitate collaboration with complementary protocols

Representative Profile:
Name: Chanil
Background: Active DeFi Participant
Contact: @SirJeetnot (Twitter)

My goal is to help shape Drift’s evolution while maintaining its core values and competitive edge within Solana’s dynamic DeFi ecosystem.

[SteaksInSpace]

Delegate Proposal — Andrew (SteaksInSpace)

Mission & Vision
I am an independent algorithmic trading developer and long-time user of Drift’s trading and earn platforms. My mission as a delegate is to champion individual users like me—bringing real-world experience, user-focused advocacy, and strategic governance leadership to Drift’s community.

Community Engagement & Advocacy

• Contributing regularly in on-chain and community governance conversations.
• Advocated for onboarding JLP as collateral—improving capital efficiency and expanding use cases for everyday users.
• Championing greater protocol interoperability to unlock liquidity and empower innovative vault strategies.
• Focused on delivering trading solutions that provide real long term portfolio growth for UI/SDK traders.

Ecosystem Alignment

• A firm believer in Drift’s role as a cornerstone of Solana’s DeFi ecosystem.
• Eager to drive solutions that bridge Drift with top-tier Solana protocols—helping create synergies, expand liquidity, and grow adoption.
• Advocate for data quality and availability to ensure traders have access to the information they need to build capital efficient solutions on Drift.

Delegate Responsibilities

• Act as a reliable conduit between individual users and executive decision-makers.
• Provide transparent public updates on governance votes and proposals.
• Surface user feedback to shape product features and protocol direction.
• Regular analysis of the UI and SKD mechanics with a focus on seamless and smooth usability.

Delegation Philosophy

• Prioritize proposals that deliver tangible user benefits: reduced slippage, new collateral types, better earning mechanisms, long-term portfolio growth for all users, and algorithmic trading.
• Vote with purpose, guided by user impact and protocol health.
• Serve as a committed representative voice for everyday DeFi users, ensuring their needs stay central.

Get to Know Me

• Name: Andrew
• Email: block_tracer@pm.me
• Twitter: @SteaksInSpace
• Background: Data and information science, Algorithmic Trading, Active DeFi user / every day trader on Drift, Drift/Solana enthusiast.
• Values: Transparency, user-first mindset, and thoughtful innovation, access to critical utilities and data that allow any type of Drift user to profit and remain engaged with the protocol over the long term.

[Chanil]

Three aspects I’d love to hear more about:

Delegation Philosophy
How would you balance community sentiment with expert judgment when voting on contentious proposals?

Conflict Management
What’s your approach when delegators have opposing views on key issues?

Transparency Framework
Would you commit to regular (e.g., bi-weekly) delegate reports explaining your votes?

[Nallok]

Delegate Proposal – MetaDAO

MetaDAO is a decision market and fundraising platform built around futarchy — a governance model that supplements token voting with conditional markets. These markets price the expected impact of decisions, and those prices will guide how the delegate’s vote is cast.

For this experiment, we propose delegating a portion of DRIFT voting power to MetaDAO. In return, we’ll create a decision market for each relevant vote. At the end of the voting period, the market price (pass/fail) will determine how we cast the delegate’s vote.

We’ve already run early decision markets for Drift and are eager to continue supporting its governance as it evolves. As a platform centered around markets, we view Drift as an ideal partner for experimenting with new forms of governance — and we’re excited to help advance the futarchy experiment.

To simplify the experiment, the delegated DRIFT and the voting action will be managed by:

Kollan House

Co-founder, MetaDAO

@metanallok

[Chanil]

Thank you for proposing this innovative governance experiment, @metanallok. Futarchy and decision markets present a compelling alternative to traditional token voting, and we appreciate MetaDAO’s focus on advancing governance experimentation—especially for a protocol like Drift, where market-driven logic aligns naturally with our ethos.

Key Points of Interest:
Proven Utility: Your early decision markets for Drift demonstrate tangible use cases. We’d love to see more data on past market accuracy and voter participation rates.
Transparency & Execution: Clarifying how market resolutions will be enforced (e.g., smart contract triggers vs. manual execution by Kollan House) would strengthen trust in the process.
Scope: Defining the “portion” of delegated voting power and which proposal types qualify for futarchy (e.g., treasury allocations, risk parameters) would help stakeholders evaluate impact.

Open Questions for Discussion:
• How would MetaDAO handle edge cases (e.g., market manipulation or liquidity droughts)?
• Could delegates override market outcomes in emergencies, or is the system fully autonomous?
• What metrics will determine the experiment’s success/failure?

Next Steps:
We encourage the Drift community to weigh in on:

• The appropriateness of the delegated voting power share
• Whether futarchy should apply to all votes or specific categories
• Any safeguards needed to complement the markets

MetaDAO’s proposal is a bold step toward more dynamic governance. With clearer parameters, this could set a valuable precedent. Looking forward to further dialogue!

Suggested Hashtags:
#DeFiGovernance #Futarchy #DriftProtocol

---

[Light]

I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!

I’m happy to contribute if you’ll have me. I’m an active member of the community and have done tens of millions in trading volume over the past couple months.

I build algorithmic trading strategies as a hobby and I have a better than average knowledge of the markets, blockchain and swe.

And im reel smart to.

Seriously though. I believe what I have to offer are well thought out ideas and arguments that can aid in bettering drift. If my contributions thus far have resonated with others then great but if not that’s fine I recognize my own bias.

[Moonbags]

Title: Delegate Proposal – @SHA 256

Summary of What I Do:
I am an active perp trader and blockchain enthusiast with extensive experience in participating in DAOs across multiple blockchains, including Jupiter DAO on Solana. I have a strong background in researching governance to ensure projects remain aligned with their community and original vision as outlined in their white papers. My involvement includes attending and participating in AMAs, conducting deep research into project fundamentals, and validating the vision being presented. As @SHA 256 on X, I engage with the crypto community, sharing insights on market trends and advocating for Solana-based projects like Drift. I use first principles to analyze emergent technologies, love brainstorming future possibilities, and am passionate about how DeFi has removed barriers for retail investors like me, wanting to perpetuate these opportunities for others.

Involvement in the Drift Ecosystem:
I have been deeply involved with Drift Protocol as a trader since its inception, achieving a trading volume of 22 million over the past year with just 5,000 to 1,000 liquidity , using 10x to 20x leverage. This places me squarely in the trade category of target delegates. Additionally, my participation in DAOs across multiple blockchains, including Jupiter DAO on Solana, and my extensive experience in governance research, align me with the ecosystem/community category. My custom trading strategy, powered by Pine scripts and an AI-driven bot with webhooks, optimizes low-latency perp trading on Drift’s platform. Beyond trading, my ability to critically evaluate governance proposals and ensure they align with community interests and project visions will be invaluable to Drift’s DAO. My X activity as @SHA 256 further amplifies my involvement, where I engage with the Drift and Solana communities, sharing analysis that supports ecosystem growth. I am committed to perpetuating DeFi’s accessibility, ensuring retail investors can benefit from its innovations, and using my brainstorming skills to propose future-oriented solutions.

Delegate Responsibilities – Responsible Person:

• Name: @SHA 256
• Role: Perp Trader, Analyst, and Governance Researcher
• X Handle: @SHA 256

As a delegate, I will leverage my experience in DAO governance to participate actively in proposal discussions, providing insights from both a trader’s and a governance researcher’s perspective. I will ensure that proposals are evaluated not only for their immediate impact on trading but also for their long-term alignment with Drift’s vision and community interests, using first principles to assess their foundation. My commitment to deep research and community engagement, reflected in my X presence, will help me represent the diverse needs of Drift’s stakeholders in governance decisions. I will vote on proposals to prioritize accessibility, innovation, and efficiency, ensuring Drift continues to remove barriers for retail investors and aligns with its emergent technology potential. My love for brainstorming will drive me to propose ideas that shape a future where DeFi empowers more retail participants.

Clarity of some skills brought:
| Participate in proposal discussions | Provides trading insights, evaluates governance alignment, engages community via X, brainstorms future solutions |
| Vote on proposals /Aligns votes with trader and community interests, ensures long-term vision and accessibility | loves the crypto community!

My past experience in short script
| Trading Volume On DRIFT| 22 million over past year, 5,000 to 1,000 liquidity, 10x to 20x leverage | MEV implementation, Looping strategies, Airdrop analysis, low risk and high risk financial market strategy method research and implementation.
| Custom Trading Tools | Built Custom Pine scripts, Using AI-driven bot with webhooks for low-latency perp trading on Drift in conjunction with Keepers and JIT’s.
| DAO Experience| Participated in DAOs across blockchains, including Jupiter DAO on Solana
| Governance Research| Researches alignment with white papers, attends AMAs, validates project visions, provides insights into pivot strategies when in alignment with the community.
| Community Engagement | Active on X, sharing market insights, advocating for Solana and Drift.
| Passion for DeFi Accessibility . Committed to removing barriers for retail investors. I love first principles thinking and brainstorming with people in the space.

[Moonbags]

Very cool sounding stuff. I follow you already, but haven’t been following your work close. I will check it out.

[Gibby]

Delegate Proposal – Gabriel

I’ve been an active participant in the Solana DeFi ecosystem, including the Jup DAO and as a long-time Drift member and enjoyoor. I’ve done most of my perp trading and dSOL staking on Drift since 2023, and I’ve been a happy member and user since then. I consistently advocate for features that benefit the broader community and improve the user experience. I also have past experience in governance research and proposals from my contributions to the JUP DAO and Arbitrum DAO.

My contributions to the drift ecosystem are:

• I’m an early drift user and drift lite tester who gave feedback and recommendations like realized profit to show when setting SL or TP.

I am an active community member on Discord and Twitter. I vote, recommend features, and provide feedback on both platforms to help make Drift better.

• I actively engage with most of Drift’s tweets by providing constructive comments, which helps keep its social channels active and attracts more attention to Drift.

Name -Gabriel (Gibby)

Role - Drift active community member, Drift Early Adopter, Drift Lite tester.

Twitter – https://x.com/oladanx ( @oladanx )

Discord – gibbyy1

[foundation]

Appreciation your contributions to previous discussions.

Do you have an X or a TG you can include?

[bonney]

Delegate Proposal- Bonney Daniel
I’m a Web3 community growth strategist specializing in aligning token-enabled ecosystems and DAOs. I help build feedback loops, retention systems, and engagement models that ensure active, diverse participation particularly in trading and DeFi contexts.

My involvement with Drift

I’ve been following and engaging with the Drift community on Discord, Discourse (DIPs), and X paying close attention to topics like strategic buybacks (DIP‑4), governance integration, and ecosystem expansion. I actively share insights and surface opportunities around treasury management, community inclusion, and narrative cohesion.

My delegate role

I’ll be hands on with governance, joining proposal discussions, adding strategic clarity from a community growth lens, and ensuring decisions reflect ecosystem diversity (traders, builders, liquidity providers, DAO voters).

Contact: [dbonney884@gmail.com], Community Strategist
X: @bonney_kz

[drnick]

Delegate Proposal - Nick Almond

Summary

I am Head of Governance at Jito and I am broadly responsible for supporting Jito DAO and its members. My role encompasses supporting the development of Jito’s governance practices and supporting delegates to advance proposals that materially advance the goals of the Jito Network and its products. A significant workstream this year is focussed on value accrual and developing a Jito governance framework that maintains its agility and builds specialist domains of practice, whilst working within the constraints of the current era of DAO tooling.

I am a Physicist by background and have spent more than ten years working in academia across mathematics, cryptography, governance design and learning theory. I have worked in DAOs full time since 2020 and have developed both DAO tooling and a number of in practice governance frameworks. I also specialise in token engineering and cryptoeconomics.

My Involvement with Drift

I am relatively new to the Solana ecosystem, focussing primarily on the Ethereum DAO ecosystem for the last several years. However, I see Drift as being a crucial component of this network and I am looking to build a strong aliance between this DAO and Jito DAO.

I am willing to support the Drift ecosystem and this DAO with my experience and knowledge as a delegate and think I can bring significant value to the governance system here.

Representitive

Name: Nick Almond
Role: Head of Governance, Jito
Twitter & TG: @DrNickA

[jesse]

Delegate Proposal – Sanctum

About Sanctum

Sanctum is a leading liquid staking infrastructure built on Solana, focused on unlocking the full potential of staking through capital efficiency and composability. By creating an open ecosystem for liquid staking tokens (LSTs), Sanctum removes the barriers of entry to build and innovate on top of Solana’s staking primitives. We work closely with other Solana-native protocols–drift included–to expand the utility of LSTs across DeFi, and are committed to the long-term health and decentralization of the network and its ecosystem.

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Sanctum in the Drift Ecosystem

Sanctum and Drift have been long-time partners, united by a shared commitment to innovation and long-term alignment. Drift’s native LST, dSOL, was launched through Sanctum, and represents a strong example of how both protocols work together to extend the utility and composability of core Solana assets. We believe that high-performance DeFi needs strong foundational layers—staking and leverage included—and that collaboration between protocols like Sanctum and Drift is essential to building a resilient ecosystem. As a delegate, we intend to bring this aligned perspective and technical insight to support thoughtful, long-term governance outcomes.

---

Delegate representative:

Jesse
Co-founder
@0xF812

[NeutralTradeWill]

Delegate Proposal - Neutral Trade

About Neutral Trade

Neutral Trade is an on-chain multi-strategy hedge fund built by quants and traders with experience in both TradFi and DeFi. We’ve democratized access to professional trading strategies which are typically reserved to only select individuals. $2M+ profit has been earned by depositors in our market neutral, directional and private credit vaults, now totaling 10+ strategies.

Neutral Trade’s Participation In The Drift Ecosystem

As stated, Neutral Trade provides and manages strategies, many of which are built using Drift vault architecture. Moreover, Neutral Trade is a Verified Vault Manager listed in Drift’s Strategy Vaults product. In addition, we execute these aforementioned strategies using Drift’s trading products, with $500M+ of volume generated to date.

While being a sizable platform user we also use Drift assets, having integrated Drift’s $SOL LST, $dSOL, into multiple products. This is in parallel to having provided an offering solely focused on Drift, the FUEL Maxi vault.

Representatives

Name: Will
Role: BD
Twitter: @willishere_

[anselar]

Delegate Proposal – Anselar

I’m a full-time DeFi participant and marketer who spends most of every day trading perpetuals, managing yield strategies, and researching Solana protocols. My background — 14 years of experience working in data-driven growth teams—gives me a bias for clear metrics, rigorous analysis, and transparent communication.

Involvement with Drift

• Daily user since Jan 2024: trading perps, providing liquidity, and using yield strategies.
• Active community voice: under @anselarhq on X and Telegram I surface bugs, propose UX tweaks
• Feedback contributor: shared product notes in Discord and TG.
• Advocacy: talking about Drift in spaces/threads/communities.

Delegate commitment

1. Thoughtful discussion – publish concise rationales for every vote, weighing user + protocol health.
2. Consistent voting – target ≥ 95 % participation, aligning votes with long-term growth and safety.
3. Signal aggregation – funnel community sentiment (retail traders, vault managers, LPs) into actionable governance feedback.
4. Transparency – monthly recap of votes, reasoning, and next-step suggestions.