Cindy Leow is a co-founder and core contributor at Drift Protocol, a decentralized trading platform built on the Solana blockchain. Her work focuses on protocol development, mechanism design, and ecosystem growth within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. ^[5]

Education

Leow graduated from Minerva University with a Bachelor’s degree, specializing in Strategic Finance and Data Science. ^[3]

Career

Leow began her professional career as an editorial intern at Fashion Online Malaysia in 2014, where she contributed content to a digital fashion magazine and covered major events, including Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week and brand launches. That same year, she served as director of marketing at AppleTree, creating promotional video content and assisting with language localization efforts. From 2014 to 2016, she worked as a freelance writer and strategist, developing content for clients across sectors, including startups and media, and tailoring communication strategies for diverse audiences.

In 2015, she became executive director for the Kuala Lumpur chapter of the 24 Hour Race, a youth-led movement against human trafficking, overseeing a large volunteer team, securing event funding, and expanding participation. In 2016, she joined McKinsey & Company’s Young Leaders Academy, where she co-developed a food redistribution platform and established corporate partnerships. In early 2017, she held a fundraising and development role at MEET, a nonprofit focused on tech education in the Middle East, based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Later in 2017, she supported the Minerva Project's strategic expansion efforts in China by building partnerships and co-developing educational programs. That summer, she worked in strategy and development at Ideate Investments in Shanghai, where she conducted market research and investment analysis in sectors including AI, clean energy, and medical technology. In 2017–2018, she joined Softbank Korea to advise on early-stage investment opportunities in China’s AI, IoT, and medical industries.

From 2019 to 2021, Leow was a portfolio manager at 256 Capital, where she developed quantitative trend-following strategies and managed a derivatives trading book. In May 2021, she co-founded Drift Labs, a decentralized finance platform on the Solana blockchain. The platform integrates perpetual futures, spot trading, borrowing and lending, and prediction markets into a unified trading environment. ^{[14] [15]}

Interviews

Drift DEX

On the Lightspeed podcast, Jack Cuban hosted Chris Heaney and Leow. They discussed the launch of Swift, an innovative extension of Drift that aims to enhance trading speed and efficiency through off-chain elements while maintaining decentralization. The conversation delved into the structure of Drift's liquidity system and the roles of market makers and keepers in executing trades. They explained how Swift would reduce transaction latency and improve the user experience by allowing orders to be placed off-chain while still being settled on-chain, thereby preserving the security and censorship resistance associated with Solana. Throughout the discussion, they touched upon the competitive landscape in decentralized perpetual trading, the importance of institutional adoption in DeFi, and the potential for Drift to evolve into a multi-faceted financial platform. They expressed optimism about the future of DeFi, highlighting the need for diverse yield sources and the integration of traditional financial assets into the ecosystem to drive growth. ^[2]

Drift’s Journey

Leow discussed her experience founding Drift and the challenges the company faced during turbulent market conditions, including the collapse of the Luna asset, on the Logan Jastremski Podcast. Following an incident that resulted in a $15 million loss due to an accounting error, the Drift team prioritized user trust and integrity by deciding to refund affected users, even after securing a $20 million funding round. The conversation delved into their evolution in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, highlighting innovations in risk management and trading features. Leow emphasized the importance of community and team culture in navigating the high volatility of the crypto market and her belief that Drift aims to democratize access to financial tools, paralleling earlier visions of empowering the unbanked. The discussion concluded with reflections on the future potential of on-chain trading and the growth of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. ^[1]

Presentations

DeFi Super Protocol

During TOKEN2049 Dubai 2025, Leow discussed the evolution and vision of Drift, a decentralized finance (DeFi) super protocol that emerged as a significant player in the Solana ecosystem. Leow outlined the challenges of centralized finance and the need for greater capital efficiency in DeFi products, which Drift addressed by introducing features such as cross-margining and innovative earning options. Over three years, Drift evolved from a perpetuals exchange to an all-in-one DeFi platform, achieving significant milestones including $1.5 billion in deposits and over $100 billion in trading volume. The protocol focused on enhancing user experience by allowing seamless access to various financial services through a single collateral pool, which attracted a diverse range of users and positioned Drift as a key competitor in the economic landscape. ^[10]

Institutional DeFi

Leow discussed the evolution of decentralized finance (DeFi) during the Drift DeFi Day event in New York City. She highlighted Drift as a leading capital-efficient DeFi platform, having processed over $100 billion in volume and housing more than $1.5 billion in deposits, while generating $40 million in annual revenue. Leow noted the growing convergence between traditional finance (TradFi) and DeFi, supported by advancements in infrastructure and increasing institutional interest, particularly in private credit and real-world assets (RWAs). She emphasized Drift's mission to make institutional-grade financial products accessible to a wider audience, launching initiatives that combine RWAs with on-chain functionalities to enhance liquidity and yield. Leow concluded with ambitious plans for integrating various asset classes into the DeFi ecosystem, marking the beginning of a new era in institutional DeFi. ^[10]

Why Solana

During LedgerFest 21, Leow discussed her background and the development of Drift. Having started her journey in cryptocurrency trading in 2016, Leow initially recognized price inefficiencies between the US and South Korean markets. This experience led her to explore automated trading strategies and establish a proprietary fund. Over the previous year, she became immersed in decentralized finance. She contributed to several derivatives projects on Ethereum before deciding to focus on creating a more efficient perpetual swap exchange on Solana. Leow emphasized Drift's unique dynamic automated market maker, designed to offer low slippage and competitive pricing, while highlighting the importance of decentralization in the crypto space. She also emphasized the importance of integrating with existing financial protocols and the potential for creating innovative on-chain financial markets. ^[4]

Panels

Internet Capital Markets

During Drift DeFi Day, Lily Liu and Leow discussed internet capital markets, focusing on the evolution of decentralized finance (DeFi) and its connection to traditional capital markets. Liu recounted her initial interest in Bitcoin in 2013, when she saw great potential for blockchain technology to democratize access to financial systems globally. The conversation emphasized the importance of both buy-side and sell-side access to capital markets, highlighting current inefficiencies in the IPO process. They considered how advancements in blockchain could facilitate equity issuances and better asset liquidity. Furthermore, they discussed the role of DeFi in transforming financial services, framing it as a foundational aspect of cryptocurrency's future. The emergence of Solana was noted as a significant factor in this evolution, showcasing improved infrastructure that could support diverse financial applications. Ultimately, the dialogue underscored a vision where DeFi becomes integrated within traditional economic systems, proposing that Bitcoin may serve as a crucial asset in this ecosystem. ^[11]

DEXplosion

At the TOKEN2049 conference in Singapore in 2023, a panel moderated by Suyang Yang (Circuit) featured discussions among three founders of decentralized exchanges: Leow from Drift, Jeff Yan from Hyperliquid, and Julian Koh from Ribbon Finance. The panelists elaborated on the challenges faced by decentralized exchanges (DEXs) in terms of competition with centralized exchanges (CEXs), particularly concerning liquidity, onboarding experiences, and user interfaces. They acknowledged that while DEXs benefited from features like censorship resistance and transparency, significant improvements in liquidity and user experience were essential for attracting retail traders. Each panelist shared insights about their current projects and innovations aimed at enhancing DEX functionality, including the introduction of community-driven liquidity mechanisms and new trading strategies. The discussion reflected an ongoing evolution in the DEX landscape, highlighting the need for continuous innovation and adaptation in the wake of shifting market dynamics following the FTX collapse. ^[12]