Drift Protocol rebrands to Velocity as hack recovery expands

The Solana-based perpetual futures exchange is relaunching in private beta after a $280 million exploit, while Reflect offers a separate 180-day recovery plan for affected USDC+ holders.

USDT

SOL

USDC

25d ago

Fact Check

The primary source X post by @VelocityDEX (verified via X full-archive search, published 2026-07-01) explicitly announces that Drift is rebranding to Velocity, describes a rebuilt next-generation platform with a cleaner architecture and stronger security, and states a private Beta will be released to select partners and traders 'in the coming days.' This is directly corroborated by BlockBeats and Odaily news flashes and the SolanaFloor X post, all of which cite the same @VelocityDEX announcement. Every element of the claim is supported by the primary source.

Summary

Drift Protocol said on July 1 it has rebranded to Velocity as it rebuilds its Solana-based perpetual futures exchange after an April 1 exploit that drained more than $280 million and was linked by investigators to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. The relaunch is backed by a $127.5 million Tether credit line and includes a switch from USDC to USDT, with a private beta for selected partners and traders planned in the coming days. Separately, Reflect, an a16z-backed stablecoin protocol, said on July 2 it is offering a voluntary 180-day recovery plan for USDC+ holders affected by the hack, allowing them to sell positions to Palindrome Engineering for 0.20 USDC plus 80 Reflect Credit per unit through on-chain settlement in exchange for waiving claims against Drift, now Velocity.

Terms & Concepts

perpetual futures: Crypto derivatives contracts that do not expire and are typically kept aligned with spot prices through funding payments
multisig wallets: Wallets that require approval from multiple parties or keys before funds can be moved
on-chain settlement: Transaction completion recorded directly on a blockchain