The DRIFT token, which powers the Solana<\/a>-based perpetuals exchange Drift Protocol, surged over 40% on Monday before retracing slightly, after the platform crossed $1 billion in daily trading volume for the first time over the weekend.<\/p>\n The token’s rally started after Drift briefly became<\/a> the second-largest perpetuals DEX by volume across all chains, and claimed the top spot on Solana, according to DefiLlama data<\/a>. The volume spike on July 18 reached $1.089 billion, beating its previous all-time high from April 2024, when Drift saw around $720 million in perps trading in a single day.<\/p>\n As of press time, however, the protocol ranks fourth in daily trading volume<\/a> of perpetuals across chains, trailing only edgeX, Jupiter, and Hyperliquid. Hyperliquid leads the pack with over $13 billion in daily perp volumes, with the next largest, Jupiter, seeing just under $1 billion.<\/p>\n Amid this influx of on-chain trading, DRIFT rose over 40% to peak at $0.73 today, and is currently up over 33%, while trading volume for the token shot up more than 2,800% to $323 million, based on CoinGecko<\/a> data.<\/p>\n Drift\u2019s total value locked (TVL) is currently sitting at about $1.13 billion, with a good chunk of that likely coming from its Drift Earn program, where users can earn yield via lending and market-making on the platform.<\/p>\n The latest wave of activity seems tied to a move Drift made earlier this month. On July 10, the protocol launched<\/a> zero-fee ETH perpetuals with leverage up to 101x, meaning traders could open massive positions without paying trading fees.<\/p>\n![\"the-defiant\"](\"https:\/\/thedefiant.io\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.thedefiant.io%2Fad_4nxedffcuiupxy4iyoo8kzvxnsox9yp8yojntzytfr4_7z1wruzxdvtlp-d315c97d-5f4c-4dbf-9184-f892cc3a29ae.png&w=2048&q=100\"\/)