Drift opens recovery token claims for users who lost $295 million

The Drift Foundation, now rebranded as Velocity, has opened claims for its DFX recovery token following a massive $295.4 million exploit on April 1, 2026. Forensic firm Mandiant has attributed the attack to a North Korean group. Affected users receive one DFX per dollar lost, but the initial redemption rate is just 1.04%, drawing heavy criticism from victims. The recovery pool is designed to grow daily using Velocity's net protocol revenue alongside commitments of up to 127.5 million USDT from Tether.

DFX claims and redemptions timeline

• ▪The Drift Foundation opened claims and redemptions on October 1, 2026, for DFX, a Solana-based recovery token issued to users who lost funds in its April 1, 2026, exploit
• ▪The claims and redemptions window for Drift's DFX recovery token is scheduled to close at 00:00 UTC on January 1, 2028, at which point unclaimed tokens will be burned

DFX token supply and value

• ▪Drift's DFX token launched with a redemption value of approximately 0.0104 USDT per token, representing a repayment rate of roughly one cent for every dollar lost
• ▪The DFX token supply is fixed at 299,500,810.998 tokens, with each verified dollar of user loss entitling a wallet to one DFX token

Options for DFX holders

• ▪Following Drift's April 1, 2026, exploit, DFX token holders can choose to hold their tokens, wait for revenue-funded recovery, or sell them on secondary markets like Raydium
• ▪Redeeming DFX tokens burns them for a single, final USDT payout, forfeiting future Drift Recovery Pool claims, which drew frustration and accusations of unfairness from Drift Protocol users in May 2026

Funding of the Recovery Pool

• ▪Tether has committed up to 127.5 million USDT and strategic partners have committed up to 20 million USDT to the Drift Recovery Pool, subject to caps and phased release schedules outlined in Drift's April support package
• ▪The Drift Recovery Pool is funded daily at 00:00 UTC using net protocol revenue from Velocity, contributing 60% of the first 30,000 USDT of daily revenue, 70% up to 100,000 USDT, and 90% of revenue above 100,000 USDT

The April 2026 exploit

• ▪In a September 30, 2026, update, the Drift Foundation stated that forensic firm Mandiant had identified the attacker behind its April 1, 2026, exploit as a North Korean group
• ▪An exploit on April 1, 2026, drained approximately $295.4 million from the Drift Foundation, which has since rebranded as Velocity

Debatable claims

• ▪Forfeiting future claims upon DFX redemption is a fair tradeoff for immediate liquidity
• ▪Drift's initial one-percent recovery rate is too low to restore user confidence
• ▪Velocity should fully reimburse exploit victims immediately instead of using a gradual recovery pool
• ▪Allowing DFX to trade on secondary markets benefits exploit victims