Step Finance shuts operations after $27 million January hack

CoinDesk

by Jamie Crawley

February 24, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

Step Finance, a Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) portfolio tracker, has announced the immediate shutdown of its operations following a $27 million hack in January. The platform, which offered users an aggregation of yield farms, liquidity provider tokens, and other DeFi positions from a single interface, confirmed that 261,854 SOL tokens—valued at approximately $27 million at the time—were stolen during the incident. In a statement shared on X, Step revealed it had exhausted all possible options to recover or secure a viable future for the platform after exploring financing and acquisition opportunities. The native STEP token has been severely impacted by the hack, losing nearly 96% of its value since the incident. Following the closure announcement, the token dropped an additional 36% in just 24 hours, reflecting investor concerns over the project's viability. Step is now working on a buyback program for token holders, based on pre-hack holdings and values. Affiliate projects SolanaFloor, a Solana-focused media outlet, and Remora Markets, a tokenization platform, have also been closed as part of the winding down process. Founded in 2021, Step Finance played a significant role in the DeFi ecosystem by simplifying access to various yield farming opportunities across multiple blockchains. The hack, which occurred at the end of January, exposed vulnerabilities in the platform's security measures. Despite efforts to mitigate the damage and explore recovery options, Step was unable to secure a viable path forward. This decision marks another blow to the DeFi community, already reeling from a series of high-profile hacks and scams. The closure of Step Finance highlights the ongoing challenges faced by DeFi platforms in ensuring robust security measures against sophisticated attackers. While the buyback program aims to compensate affected token holders, it may not fully restore confidence in the platform or its affiliates. The broader crypto community will be closely watching how this incident impacts trust in DeFi projects and the steps taken by other

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Originally published on CoinDesk on 2/24/2026