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

Following a devastating exploit that resulted in the loss of over $270 million in client assets, Drift Protocol has announced a proposed funding package of up to $147.5 million from Tether and its partners. This investment will facilitate the recovery of user funds and support the relaunch of the platform as a USDT-based perpetual futures exchange on Solana, replacing Circle's USDC as its settlement layer. The funding package, which includes a revenue-linked credit facility, ecosystem grants, and loans to market makers, aims to cover roughly $295 million in user losses over time. A portion of the trading revenue will be allocated to a recovery pool to achieve this goal. The exploit, linked to a North Korea-based group, led to a significant decline in the value of Drift's governance token, DRIFT, which has lost around 70% of its value since the incident. The funding package also includes plans for fee reductions and user incentives tied to Drift's transition to USDT, as well as liquidity support for designated market makers to enhance trading depth at relaunch.