Drift has started processing recovery claims for users affected by its April 2026 exploit, but the first cash redemptions cover only slightly more than 1% of verified losses. The Drift Foundation opened claims and redemptions for the DFX recovery token on Oct. 1, 2026, offering victims a route to receive USDT from the Recovery Pool.
DFX is a fixed-supply Solana SPL token issued one-for-one against each USDT of verified loss from the April 1 incident. Total supply is capped at 299,500,810.998 DFX, corresponding to nearly 299.5 million USDT in verified losses. At launch, the redemption rate was approximately 0.0104 USDT per DFX, based on a pool holding roughly 3.1 million USDT, meaning immediate redemption recovered about 1.04% of the corresponding loss.
Redemption is designed to be final: DFX tokens are burned in the same transaction that pays out USDT, so a holder who exits early gives up future claims on additional deposits. Users can instead hold DFX, transfer it, or trade it on secondary venues such as Raydium. The redemption price is calculated as the pool balance divided by outstanding DFX, and because redemptions remove cash and burn tokens proportionally, the ratio remains unchanged; new inflows raise the amount redeemable per remaining token.
The recovery pool is intended to grow through several channels. Each day at 00:00 UTC, Velocity—the rebuilt exchange formerly operating as Drift—directs a share of net protocol revenue into the pool in USDT, with stepped allocation of 60% of the first 30,000 USDT, 70% from 30,000 to 100,000 USDT, and 90% above 100,000 USDT. Tether has committed up to 127.5 million USDT toward relaunch and user recovery, while strategic partners have committed up to 20 million USDT. Any stolen assets recovered through freezes, bounties, or law enforcement also enter the pool.
The claim window closes at 00:00 UTC on Jan. 1, 2028, when unclaimed DFX will be permanently burned. Claims must be made from the snapshot wallet that held the affected Drift account on April 1, with a small SOL balance for network fees. Early dashboard activity cited roughly 216,480 DFX burned for about 2,250 USDT on the first day, underscoring how small the opening cash recovery is relative to total losses. The insurance fund remains separate and was not part of the DFX process.
