Drift Protocol Plans $147.5M User Recovery Pool Backed by Tether

Drift said it has secured backing from Tether and other partners to fund a $147.5 million user recovery package. Tether is expected to provide $127.5 million, with additional partners contributing a combined $20 million. The package includes a $100 million revenue-linked credit line, ecosystem grants, and loans to market makers. Drift plans to set up a dedicated recovery pool intended to gradually cover $295 million in outstanding user losses as trading revenue increases. Drift also said it will issue standalone recovery tokens to affected users, representing transferable claims on the recovery pool. The protocol is in the process of restarting and has hired Ottersec and Asymmetric to conduct audits. Drift also plans to migrate its settlement layer from USDC to USDT. The earlier attack led to the theft of about $295 million in assets, while the insurance fund was not impacted.