Drift Secures $148 Million in Funding to Recover from Exploit and Transition to USDT

Drift Protocol, which recently fell victim to a North Korean exploit, has announced plans to relaunch with USDT as its settlement layer after receiving a substantial funding package of up to $147.5 million from Tether and other partners. The funding package, comprising a revenue-linked credit facility, ecosystem grants, and loans to market makers, aims to support the recovery of user funds and reboot the platform as a USDT-based perpetual futures exchange on Solana. Previously, the platform utilized Circle's USDC as its settlement layer. The rescue package will allocate a portion of trading revenue, alongside committed capital, to a recovery pool designed to cover approximately $295 million in user losses over time. This development comes after a North Korea-linked group infiltrated Drift Protocol, resulting in an exploit that exceeded $270 million on April 1. Drift's governance token, DRIFT, has since lost around 70% of its value. The funding package also includes provisions for fee reductions and user incentives tied to Drift's transition to USDT, as well as extended liquidity support to designated market makers. This move is expected to bolster trading depth at relaunch and position USDT at the center of Drift's trading infrastructure, providing a pathway to restore user funds and resume operations.