Solana-based decentralized exchange Drift Protocol has announced a user recovery plan in partnership with Tether and other collaborators. This follows a major exploit two weeks ago that drained $285 million from the project’s vaults.
On Thursday, Drift Protocol, the largest perpetual futures DEX on Solana, revealed a structured recovery plan backed by nearly $150 million in combined support. The plan includes a $100 million revenue-linked credit line, an ecosystem grant, and loans to market makers, all aimed at funding a dedicated user recovery pool.
As previously reported, the exploit on April 1 stole hundreds of millions in crypto assets, making it the largest attack of 2026 so far. Drift explained that a significant portion of exchange revenue, along with the committed support capital, will fund this recovery pool. Any stolen funds that are recovered will also be added to the pool.
Additionally, Drift will issue a new token for affected users to streamline the distribution of recovery assets and provide liquidity opportunities. This dedicated recovery token will be separate from the DRIFT governance token and will represent a claim on the recovery pool. It will also be transferable.
The Solana project also plans to strengthen its security by having each component independently audited by OtterSec and Asymmetric Research before relaunching. A new community-governed multisig will be introduced to manage core protocol assets, requiring all signers to use dedicated signing devices with transaction content verified outside the primary interface before execution. This is intended to prevent similar attacks.
The attackers gained unauthorized access by manipulating Drift Protocol’s multisig approvals using Solana durable nonces. The project described the exploit as involving unauthorized transaction approvals obtained prior to execution, likely through durable nonce mechanisms and sophisticated social engineering.
Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic has identified indicators linking the exploit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Drift has stated that the attack was a six-month operation to infiltrate the protocol’s inner circle and compromise their devices.
Drift further detailed that it will relaunch with Tether’s USDT for settlements. Tether has proposed extending a USDT support facility to designated market makers to ensure deep, liquid markets from the start.
“Drift’s decision to integrate USD₮ into the relaunch and recovery of a major trading venue on Solana reinforces Tether’s role as a reliable settlement asset within the Solana ecosystem,” Tether stated.
The shift from USDC to USDT settlement is significant, following Circle’s decision not to freeze the stolen USDC during the initial attack. The exploiter swapped $270.9 million of the stolen assets into USDC within hours, bridged them from Solana to Ethereum, and purchased 129,000 ETH, which were then split across multiple wallets.Critics called on Circle to freeze the funds, with crypto investigator ZachXBT criticizing the stablecoin issuer for its ongoing “inaction” in recent years. Circle has responded to the criticism, stating that it does not freeze funds “unilaterally or arbitrarily,” but only when “the law requires us to act.” Drift concluded that “this is the first step toward fully reimbursing users over time and emerging stronger than before.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Drift Protocols recent announcement designed to be clear and helpful for users of all experience levels
Beginner General Questions
1 What is Drift Protocol
Drift is a decentralized exchange built on the Solana blockchain specializing in perpetual futures trading
2 What exactly was announced
Drift announced two major things 1 The creation of a 150 million recovery fund to protect users and 2 The upcoming launch of its own governance token following a collaboration with Tether
3 Why is a 150 million recovery fund a big deal
Its a massive safety net The fund backed by Drifts treasury and partners is designed to reimburse users in the rare case of a smart contract hack or critical protocol failure significantly increasing trust and security
4 What does Tether have to do with this
Tether collaborated with Drift to help design and back the recovery fund Their involvement adds credibility and substantial financial backing to the safety initiative
5 When will the DRIFT token be available
An exact date hasnt been announced yet The news is that the token is confirmed and details will be released soon Users should follow Drifts official channels for launch announcements
Intermediate UserFocused Questions
6 Do I get DRIFT tokens for being a past user
Its very likely Most DeFi protocols reward early users and liquidity providers through an airdrop While Drift hasnt released specifics active traders and depositors on the platform are typically eligible Check their official blog for eligibility criteria when announced
7 How does the recovery fund actually work
If a qualifying incident causes user losses a governance vote can be triggered to allocate funds from the 150 million pool to affected users making them whole
8 Is my money now 100 safe on Drift
No investment is 100 riskfree While the recovery fund is a huge step forward for