Crypto · DL News
Drift degen sues Circle, alleging stablecoin giant ‘did nothing’ during $295m hack
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Circle has been sued for its sluggish response to the hack of the Solana-based decentralised exchange Drift Protocol.
Key facts
- Additionally, as part of the relaunch, Drift will transition its settlement asset from USDC to USDT, bringing more than 128,000 users and over 35 ecosystem teams onto USDT-based trading
- While Drift lost some $295 million in crypto, the hackers made off with $230 million because other, smaller companies were able to freeze some of the stolen assets
- On April 1, hackers drained over $295 million from Drift, a Solana-based trading platform
- Circle’s sluggish reaction to an April Fools’ Day heist helped North Korean hackers make off with $230 million in stolen crypto, a new class action lawsuit alleges
Summary
On April 1, hackers drained over $295 million from Drift, a Solana-based trading platform. It was the largest hack of a decentralised finance protocol so far in 2026. While Drift lost some $295 million in crypto, the hackers made off with $230 million because other, smaller companies were able to freeze some of the stolen assets. The hackers converted various cryptocurrencies pilfered from Drift into USDC, according to the lawsuit. “Circle itself had a duty to monitor suspicious activity on its CCTP, whose sole purpose is money transmission, under the Bank Secrecy Act,” it adds. The lawsuit was filed "on behalf of Drift Protocol investors” earlier this week in federal court in Massachusetts by Missouri resident Joshua McCollum, who had crypto worth $23,500 in Drift.
But the recovery plan has one condition: Drift would have to use Tether’s USDT as its main stablecoin, rather than Circle’s USDC. “Additionally, as part of the relaunch, Drift will transition its settlement asset from USDC to USDT, bringing more than 128,000 users and over 35 ecosystem teams onto USDT-based trading.” Tether said it would give Drift $127.5 million as part of the recovery plan.