Drift to Issue Recovery Tokens After $295M Solana Hack
Developers behind Drift, a Solana-based derivatives exchange, proposed on Tuesday a recovery plan that would direct protocol revenue to users who lost funds in an April hack, according to DL News. The developers also plan to relaunch the exchange before July as a leaner, perpetuals-focused platform with greater emphasis on security.
On April 1, hackers tricked Drift administrators into approving fraudulent transactions, making off with crypto worth $295 million and forcing the exchange to suspend trading. Blockchain analysts have said North Korea was likely responsible, DL News reported.
Under the proposal, which requires approval from Drift tokenholders, users would receive a transferable ‘recovery token’ representing a claim on a recovery pool funded gradually by Drift’s revenue and contributions from Tether and other organizations that pledged support after the hack. Drift earned $19 million in revenue in 2025, meaning it could take nearly eight years to fill the pool to $295 million, assuming partners honor a combined $147 million commitment, per DL News.
Users unwilling to wait could redeem recovery tokens below face value once the pool reaches $5 million; Drift proposed seeding it with just under $4 million in stablecoins.
The relaunched protocol would drop high-yield ‘earn’ products, narrow its collateral offerings to the most liquid assets, and run on simplified code intended to reduce exploitable bugs. Drift would also delay a planned mobile app and a new liquidity model, and require administrators to follow formal security protocols including dedicated devices and quarterly training.
The announcement had little immediate impact on Drift’s token, which traded near $0.04 before and after the update, DL News reported.
Based on reporting by www.dlnews.com.
