DRIFT vs RAY
Drift Protocol and Raydium scored on the same 25 variables, ranked against the same 251 tokens, with every gap between them shown.
Scoring pass 18 Sept 2026. Market snapshot 7 Oct 2026.
What separates them
DRIFT scores 142 of 250 and ranks 29th of 251. RAY scores 129 and ranks 46th. DRIFT leads by 13 points, which is a real gap, though small enough that one variable moving would close much of it. DRIFT takes 15 of the 25 variables, RAY takes 7, and 3 are level.
The framework rates DRIFT HOLD and RAY CAUTIOUS HOLD. Two tokens close enough to compare do not have to land in the same band, and where they do not, the divergence table below is where the split comes from.
5 variables separate them by 3 points or more. DRIFT is clear on Revenue Trend (8 against 4) and Catalyst Calendar (8 against 4). RAY is clear on Vesting Schedule (9 against 3), Supply Inflation (7 against 4) and Circulating / FDV Ratio (6 against 3).
Both score 3 or below on Institutional Adoption. A weakness both sides share is not a reason to prefer either. It is a reason to check whether the category itself carries the problem.
RAY still has 51.4% of its eventual supply to enter circulation against 27.4% for DRIFT. On the same market capitalisation, a buyer of RAY is taking the 2.06x dilution path and a buyer of DRIFT the 1.38x one.
RAY is valued at $670.5M against $14.3M for DRIFT, a 46.9x difference. The smaller of the two scores higher on fundamentals, which is the disagreement worth understanding before either position is taken.
All 25 variables, head to head
Both tokens were scored by the same framework in the same pass, so the numbers are directly comparable. What a comparison adds over two separate pages is the gap: a 6 against a 6 is a non-event, a 9 against a 3 is the reason to hold one and not the other.
Cash flow
| Protocol Revenue | 7 | 6 | DRIFT +1 | |
| Revenue Trend | 8 | 4 | DRIFT +4 | |
| P/S Multiple | 8 | 6 | DRIFT +2 | |
| Real Staking Yield | 5 | 4 | DRIFT +1 |
Supply
| Supply Inflation | 4 | 7 | RAY +3 | |
| Vesting Schedule | 3 | 9 | RAY +6 | |
| Circulating / FDV Ratio | 3 | 6 | RAY +3 | |
| Buyback and Burn | 5 | 7 | RAY +2 |
Ownership
| Smart Money Flows | 6 | 4 | DRIFT +2 | |
| Insider Selling | 5 | 6 | RAY +1 | |
| Holder Concentration | 4 | 5 | RAY +1 |
Traction
| TVL Trend | 8 | 5 | DRIFT +3 | |
| Active Users | 7 | 7 | level | |
| Developer Activity | 7 | 5 | DRIFT +2 | |
| Network Growth | 7 | 6 | DRIFT +1 |
Position
| Market Share | 7 | 5 | DRIFT +2 | |
| Competitive Moat | 6 | 4 | DRIFT +2 | |
| Institutional Adoption | 3 | 3 | level | |
| Exchange Depth | 3 | 5 | RAY +2 | |
| Social Mindshare | 5 | 5 | level |
Risk
| Regulatory Safety | 5 | 3 | DRIFT +2 | |
| Catalyst Calendar | 8 | 4 | DRIFT +4 | |
| BTC Alpha Potential | 5 | 3 | DRIFT +2 | |
| Team Execution | 7 | 5 | DRIFT +2 | |
| Treasury Runway | 6 | 5 | DRIFT +1 |
Bars read outward from the centre: DRIFT to the left, RAY to the right. The side that leads a variable is filled. Each score is 1 to 10 against the same definition applied to all 251 rated tokens.
Market and supply
| DRIFT | RAY | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.0197 | $2.48 |
| Market cap | $14.3M | $670.5M |
| Circulating | 72.6% | 48.6% |
| Dilution to full supply | 1.38x | 2.06x |
| Off all-time high | -99.24% | -85.2% |
| To recover the high | 131.6x | 6.8x |
| Total value locked | $520.0M | $1.00B |
| Network | Solana | Solana |
Price, market cap and all-time high from the CoinGecko snapshot fetched 7 Oct 2026. Supply shares are derived from circulating and eventual supply counts, which do not move with price. The 25 scores come from the research pass dated 18 Sept 2026.
Catalyst and risk on each side
DRIFT · HOLD
Relaunch after the 1 April 2026 exploit, no confirmed date
Exploited for $286M on 1 April 2026 via a compromised admin key, deposits and withdrawals suspended. VC vesting Sep 2026 (150M tokens), Solana network risk, competition from Zeta Markets
RAY · CAUTIOUS HOLD
Solana memecoin cycle revival could 3-5x volume overnight
PumpSwap directly forked revenue model, anonymous team, Q1 2026 revenue -76% from Q3 2025
Common questions
- Is DRIFT or RAY the better investment?
- On this framework DRIFT scores higher: 142 against 129 of 250, and it is rated HOLD against CAUTIOUS HOLD. That is a ranking of fundamentals as recorded at the last scoring pass, not a price forecast, and DRIFT still wins 15 of the 25 individual variables against RAY.
- What is the biggest difference between DRIFT and RAY?
- Vesting Schedule. DRIFT scores 3 of 10 there and RAY scores 9, a gap of 6 points on a single variable.
- Which is bigger, DRIFT or RAY?
- DRIFT is valued at $14.3M and RAY at $670.5M on the latest market snapshot.
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Research and analysis, not investment advice. A higher score is one framework applied consistently to 251 tokens, not a prediction that one asset will outperform the other.