Solana-based DeFi portfolio aggregator Step Finance has announced the immediate closure of its operations, citing its inability to secure a viable path forward following a major security breach in late January 2025. The incident resulted in the theft of 261,854 SOL tokens, valued at approximately USD 27 million at the time of the attack.
Hack prompts collapse of recovery efforts
In a post published on X, the project stated it had explored every possible avenue to continue operating, including pursuing external financing and acquisition opportunities, but was ultimately unable to identify a sustainable outcome. The announcement prompted an immediate market reaction: the native STEP token, which had already fallen close to 96% in the wake of the January hack, dropped a further 36% within 24 hours of the closure news.
Despite the wind-down, Step Finance said it is working on a buyback programme for holders of the STEP token. The buyback will be based on a snapshot of holdings and token value recorded before the security incident, offering partial recourse to affected users.
Affiliate projects also close
The closure extends beyond Step Finance itself. Two affiliate projects will also cease operations: SolanaFloor, a Solana-focused media outlet, and Remora Markets, a tokenisation platform. Their shutdowns remove a broader ecosystem of Solana-native infrastructure that had been built alongside the core portfolio tracking service.
Step Finance was founded in 2021 and positioned itself as a unified dashboard for DeFi users on the Solana blockchain, aggregating data from yield farms, liquidity provider (LP) tokens, and other on-chain positions into a single interface. The platform catered to users seeking a consolidated view of complex multi-protocol DeFi portfolios at a time when Solana was gaining traction as a lower-cost alternative to Ethereum for decentralised applications.
The collapse of Step Finance follows a pattern seen across the DeFi sector, where protocol exploits have repeatedly led to irreversible fund losses and, in several cases, the permanent shutdown of affected projects. The broader Solana DeFi ecosystem, while resilient through multiple market cycles, continues to face scrutiny over smart contract security. The loss of a prominent aggregator platform and its affiliated media and tokenisation services represents a notable setback for the ecosystem's infrastructure layer.
