Drift Secures $127 Million from Tether for Hack Victim Compensation

Drift raised $148 million from Tether and partners to recover from a $295 million hack.

The Solana-based protocol Drift has raised $148 million from Tether and other partners to recover from a $295 million hack.

Today, Drift is announcing a collaboration with @tether and other partners totaling up to nearly $150 million to support our commitment to a relaunch with USDT at the center, and a path to user recovery.

These funds encompass a $100M revenue-linked credit facility, an ecosystem…

— Drift (@DriftProtocol) April 16, 2026

The support package includes a $100 million revenue-linked credit line, an ecosystem grant, and loans to market makers.

Initially, a significant portion of the platform’s revenue and the raised funds will be directed to a special pool for compensating users. As revenues grow, Drift hopes to fully cover the losses. 

To facilitate payments, developers will issue a special token for each affected user. This asset will certify the right to claim from the compensation pool. Details of the mechanism will be provided later, the project team noted. 

Following the news, the price of DRIFT surged by more than 21% to $0.05.

Relaunch 

The developers will completely relaunch the protocol. Each component will undergo independent audits conducted by Ottersec and Asymmetric. 

Drift will implement a multisignature system managed by the community. Signatories will operate on isolated devices, and transactions will be independently verified before signing. 

For critical administrative actions, time locks and real-time alerts will be introduced. Long-term one-time numbers will be disabled.

As part of the relaunch, Drift will also switch its base settlement layer from USDC to USDT. Previously, the community criticized the company behind the stablecoin, Circle, for not freezing the stolen funds. The attackers withdrew over $60 million in USDC. 

Earlier in April, the project team disclosed details of the hack. The attack was orchestrated by hackers from North Korea.