Drift Secures $148 Million in Funding from Tether and Partners to Recover from Exploit

Following a significant exploit, Drift Protocol has announced plans to relaunch with Tether's USDT as its settlement layer, backed by a proposed funding package of up to $147.5 million from Tether and its partners. The funding package, which includes a revenue-linked credit facility, ecosystem grants, and loans to market makers, aims to support user recovery and reboot the platform as a USDT-based perpetual futures exchange on Solana. The deal comprises up to $127.5 million from Tether and $20 million from other partners, with a portion of trading revenue and committed capital directed towards a recovery pool to cover roughly $295 million in user losses over time. This development comes after a North Korea-linked group infiltrated Drift Protocol, resulting in losses exceeding $270 million on April 1, and Circle's USDC stablecoin being replaced by USDT due to Tether's more agile approach to freezing funds linked to hacks or illicit activities.