Jul 25, 2026
Tether announced a $150 million recovery program for Drift Protocol following the $280 million exploit, with the funding contingent on Drift switching from USDC to USDT as its primary settlement asset. The total recovery plan reaches $147.5-$148 million when combined with other sources.
Law firm Gibbs Mura filed a class action lawsuit against Circle Internet Financial, alleging the stablecoin issuer failed to act swiftly to freeze stolen USDC tied to the Drift Protocol hack and was negligent in its response to the exploit.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced it will include cryptocurrency firms in its cybersecurity threat intelligence sharing program, previously limited to traditional financial institutions. The move reflects increased frequency and sophistication of attacks targeting digital asset platforms.
Solana Foundation partnered with Asymmetric Research to launch STRIDE, a tiered security program offering 24/7 monitoring and incident response for DeFi protocols, following the $285 million Drift Protocol hack attributed to North Korean actors.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT publicly accused stablecoin issuer Circle of failing to freeze over $420 million in illicit USDC funds across more than 15 cases since 2022, including the recent Drift Protocol exploit where $230+ million in stolen USDC flowed through Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) without being blocked.
Solana-based perpetuals DEX Drift Protocol confirmed an active attack that drained between $280-285 million from the platform through unauthorized transaction approvals. The exploit targeted multiple Drift vaults and deposits/withdrawals have been suspended.