Step Finance, a leading Solana DeFi aggregator and portfolio dashboard, is permanently ceasing all operations after failing to recover from a devastating security breach in late January. The company announced the shutdown on February 23, 2026, stating that it had exhausted all potential paths to recovery, including seeking new financing and acquisition opportunities.
The decision also marks the end for its affiliated platforms: the NFT analytics and media outlet SolanaFloor, and the lending and yield protocol Remora Markets. The root cause was a sophisticated attack on January 31, where an attacker compromised multiple treasury and fee-collection wallets. Blockchain security firm CertiK reported the theft of 261,854 Solana (SOL), valued at approximately $27 million at the time.
"Following the hack at the end of January we explored every possible path forward, including financing and acquisition opportunities. Unfortunately, we were unable to..." the team stated via social media. Co-founder George Harrap later noted that while some parties expressed acquisition interest, the company was "on a time crunch."
The financial impact proved insurmountable. The platform's native token, STEP, collapsed by 96% immediately after the hack and fell another 36% following the closure announcement, trading near zero at $0.00057. This is a stark fall from its all-time high of $10.20 in August 2021.
In response, the team has initiated a buyback plan for STEP token holders based on a snapshot taken prior to the incident and a redemption process for holders of Remora's rTokens. Users are advised to monitor official channels to withdraw funds before services are permanently disconnected.
The closure of Step Finance, which once aggregated data from 95% of Solana protocols and served up to 300,000 monthly users, leaves a significant void in the ecosystem. It contributes to a broader downturn in Solana DeFi, where the total value locked (TVL) has plummeted 52% from its September peak to approximately $6.3 billion. SOL's price has also declined, falling 1.8% on the day of the announcement to around $78.
