Solana-based decentralized data exchange (DEX) Drift Protocol has shared its long-awaited user recovery plan with Tether and other collaborators. The move follows a major exploit that drained $285 million from the project’s coffers two weeks ago.

The Drift Protocol secures a $150 million recovery fund

On Thursday, Drift Protocol, the largest decentralized perpetual futures exchange on the Solana blockchain, announced a collaboration with Tether and other partners to establish a “structured recovery plan supported by aggregate support of up to nearly $150 million” and resumption with USDT “at the center.”

According to announcementThe funding includes a $100 million revenue-linked credit line, an ecosystem grant and market maker loans, all aimed at funding a dedicated user recovery pool.

As reported by NewsBTC, the Solana-based DEX fell victim to an exploit that stole hundreds of millions of dollars from its vaults on April 1. The attack claimed multiple crypto assets worth approximately $285 million and became the largest exploit to date in 2026.

In the initial phase of the partnership, a significant portion of the exchange’s revenues, along with committed supporting capital, will be used to fund this recovery pool, Drift explained, noting that any stolen funds recovered will be transferred to the pool.

Additionally, Drift revealed that it will issue a recent token to affected users to “streamline the distribution of recovery resources as well as provide liquidity opportunities to affected users.”

The token will be a dedicated recovery token, separate from the DRIFT governance token, which is intended to represent a claim to the recovery pool and will be tradable.

Solana DEX is looking at a strengthened security framework

The Solana-based project said it would strengthen its security by passing each component through independent audits by OtterSec and Asymmetric Research before relaunching the protocol.

It will also introduce a recent community-managed multisig for managing the protocol’s core resources, requiring all multisig signers to operate on dedicated signing devices, with transaction content independently verified outside the main signing interface before any signature is performed.

This is to prevent similar attacks on the project. Notably, malicious actors gained unauthorized access to Drift Protocol by manipulating its multisig commits using Solana persistent nonces.

“The attack involved unauthorized or misrepresented consents to transactions obtained prior to execution, likely facilitated by persistent one-time mechanisms and sophisticated social engineering,” explained the project’s first report.

Blockchain analytics company Elliptic has been operating since then identified multiple indicators suggest that the exploit is linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), while Drift confirmed that the exploit was a six-month operation to infiltrate the protocol’s inner circle and compromise their devices.

USDT settlements ‘at the center’ of the drift

The project also details that it will be relaunched with USDT Tether for settlements. Tether has reportedly proposed extending the USDT support facility to designated market makers “to strengthen deep, liquid markets from day one.”

“Drift’s decision to include USD₮ in the resumption and restoration of Solana’s main trading system strengthens Tether’s role as a reliable settlement asset in the Solana ecosystem,” Tether he stated.

The switch from USDC to USDT settlements represents a significant change following Circle’s decision not to freeze stolen USDC during the initial attack.

Notably, the exploit, in a matter of hours, converted $270.9 million of stolen assets into USDC, linked them from Solana to Ethereum via CCTP TokenMessengerMinterV2, and purchased 129,000 ETH, splitting them among multiple wallets.

At the time, multiple investors and on-chain investigators were urging Circle to freeze the funds, and crypto detective ZachXBT crackling stablecoin issuer for repeated “passivity” over the past few years. Circle has since responded to the backlash, saying it does not act “unilaterally or arbitrarily” and does not freeze funds when “the law requires us to act.”

Drift stated that “this is the first step towards building users whole over time and rebuilding stronger than before.”

Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com