Solana-Based Drift Protocol Announces $150M Recovery Fund, New Token Following Tether Collab
Solana-based decentralized alternate (DEX) Drift Protocol has shared the extremely anticipated consumer restoration plan alongside Tether and different collaborators. This transfer follows the main exploit that drained $285 million from the venture’s vaults two weeks in the past.
Drift Protocol Secures $150M Recovery Fund
On Thursday, Drift Protocol, the biggest decentralized perpetual futures alternate on the Solana blockchain, introduced a collaboration with Tether and different companions to ascertain a “structured restoration plan backed by as much as practically $150 million in mixed assist” and relaunch with USDT “on the heart.”
According to the announcement, the funds embrace a $100 million revenue-linked credit score line, an ecosystem grant, and loans to market makers, all meant to finance a devoted consumer restoration pool.
As NewsBTC reported, the Solana-based DEX suffered an exploit that stole tons of of tens of millions of {dollars} from its vaults on April 1. The assault took round $285 million in a number of crypto property and have become the biggest exploit of 2026 to this point.
During the preliminary section of the collaboration, a good portion of alternate income, along with dedicated assist capital, will probably be meant to fund this restoration pool, Drift defined, noting that any stolen funds recovered can be contributed to the pool.
In addition, Drift revealed that it’s going to problem a brand new token for the affected customers to “streamline distribution of restoration property in addition to present liquidity alternatives for impacted customers.”
The token will probably be a devoted restoration token, separate from the DRIFT governance token, that’s meant to characterize a declare on the restoration pool and will probably be transferable.
Solana DEX Eyes Hardened Security Framework
The Solana-based venture shared that it’s going to harden its safety, passing every element by unbiased audits by OtterSec and Asymmetric Research earlier than relaunching the protocol.
It will even introduce a brand new community-governed multisig to handle core protocol property, requiring all multisig signers to function on devoted signing units with transaction content material independently verified outdoors the first signing interface earlier than any signature is executed.
This goals to forestall related attacks on the venture. It’s value noting that the malicious actors gained unauthorized entry to Drift Protocol by manipulating its multisig approvals utilizing Solana sturdy nonces.
“The assault concerned unauthorized or misrepresented transaction approvals obtained previous to execution, probably facilitated by sturdy nonce mechanisms and complicated social engineering,” the venture defined on its first report.
Since then, Blockchain analytics agency Elliptic has identified a number of indicators suggesting that the exploit is linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), whereas Drift has affirmed that the exploit was a six-month operation to infiltrate the protocol’s inside circle and compromise their units.
USDT Settlements ‘At The Center’ Of Drift
The venture additionally detailed that it’s going to relaunch with Tether’s USDT for settlements. Tether reportedly proposed to increase a USDT assist facility to designated market makers “to bolster deep, liquid markets from day one.”
“Drift’s determination to combine USD₮ into the relaunch and restoration of a serious buying and selling venue on Solana reinforces Tether’s position as a dependable settlement asset inside the Solana ecosystem,” Tether stated.
The shift from USDC to USDT settlement represents a major change, following Circle’s decision to not freeze the stolen USDC through the preliminary assault.
Notably, the exploiter swapped $270.9 million of the stolen property into USDC inside hours, bridged them from Solana to Ethereum through the CCTP TokenMessengerMinterV2, and bought 129,000 ETH, splitting them throughout a number of wallets.
At the time, a number of traders and on-chain investigators urged Circle to freeze the funds, with crypto sleuth ZachXBT slamming the stablecoin issuer for its repeated “inaction” over the previous few years. Circle has since addressed the backlash, affirming that it doesn’t act “unilaterally or arbitrarily” and freeze funds when “the regulation requires us to behave.”
Drift concluded that “this is step one towards making customers complete over time and towards constructing again stronger than the place we have been earlier than.”