Drift Protocol opens DFX claims on a thin recovery pool

Velocity, the perpetuals venue formerly known as Drift Protocol, opened DFX claims on 1 October 2026 for the 1 April exploit. A wallet receives one DFX for each verified USDT lost. Drift Protocol's guide puts a launch redemption at about 0.0104 USDT per DFX, off a pool of about 3.1 million USDT. The Block on 2 October called the live rate a little over 0.01 USDT and said redeeming burns the token. The rate is the pool divided by outstanding supply. It does not rise unless new money arrives, so a one-for-one claim is not a one-for-one asset.

The stolen total is not one number. Drift Protocol's own pages, Tether and the first-week estimates disagree, and supply is fixed at 299,500,810.998 DFX. That supply matches none of the loss lines below. This desk used about $285 million in its half-year hack tally.

Claim, burn, or wait

The 1 October guide says only the wallet that controlled the Drift Protocol account on 1 April 2026 can claim. The window closes at 00:00 UTC on 1 January 2028, and unclaimed DFX is burned. Holders can redeem for USDT, sell on Raydium, or wait. A redemption is final. It does not change the rate, because cash and tokens leave together, but later deposits are shared by fewer DFX.

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The pool takes a 00:00 UTC cut of Velocity's net protocol revenue, plus Tether, partners and recovered assets: 60 percent of the first 30,000 USDT a day, 70 percent from 30,000 to 100,000 USDT, and 90 percent above that.

A cap is not a balance

Sources disagree on what Tether pledged, and on whether any of it has arrived. Tether's 16 April release described combined support of up to nearly $150 million, including up to $127.5 million from Tether, tied to trading rather than paid up front. Drift's note that day said Tether was proposed to contribute up to $127.5 million and partners up to $20 million, beside a contemplated $100 million revenue-linked credit facility. The May plan kept both caps and tied deployment to prior-quarter revenue. On 2 October the Foundation wrote that the sum is matched to Velocity revenue and "isn't a lump sum that has already been received."

"The focus is on restoring user confidence and supporting a strong relaunch, with a structure that aligns recovery with real activity and long-term growth," Paolo Ardoino, chief executive at Tether, said in the 16 April announcement.

The Block's dashboard reading put the pool at 3.11 million USDT, showed 216,480 DFX redeemed for roughly 2,250 USDT, and recorded 31 USDT from the first revenue sweep. Tether and the partners were absent. The Block added Drift's caps and called that gap up to $147.5 million. Tether's "nearly $150 million" is a third figure. None of the three was cash in the pool.

What would lift the cent

The Foundation's 30 September update said about $9.2 million is frozen pending law enforcement. About 130,259 ETH sat in four Ethereum wallets. Three held 107,165 ETH, which The Block marked at nearly $286 million, and one sent about 23,094 ETH to Tornado Cash on 23 July. Mandiant, the Foundation said, named the attacker UNC6862. Recoveries go to the DFX pool, and a Bybit bounty pays 10 percent of what comes back. The Block on 5 April reported about $280 million and UNC4736. TRM Labs and Chainalysis published about $285 million.

Marking DFX at one USDT ignores the October formula. The May plan waited for a fund above $5 million. Claims opened near 3.1 million USDT, and day-one revenue was 31 USDT. A Tether draw, a partner wire or a released freeze was not in the pool on 2 October. Early redeemers lock the cent. The same control failure, not a bad price, sits behind Bitget's September breach and the AFX Trade key loss.

Cindy Leow wrote on 29 September that she was stepping down from Drift, now Velocity, "as the exchange relaunches and enters its next chapter." The venue said July's return used the Velocity name, with co-founder David still on recovery with the foundation. DFX pays only when the pool is funded. Unclaimed DFX burns after 1 January 2028.

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