KelpDao Loses $280M In Biggest DeFi Exploit Of 2026 | TradeSphere
KelpDAO loses $290M in exploits as attackers manipulate RPC infrastructure, exposing risks in single-verifier cross-chain security setups. Yahoo Finance: KelpDAO Loses $292 Million in DeFi Wallet Drain Across Ethereum, Arbitrum 2026's biggest crypto exploit: $292 million gets drained from Kelp DAO with wrapped ether stranded across 20 chains An attacker drained 116,500 rsETH, roughly 18% of circulating supply, from Kelp ... KelpDAO suffered a $290M exploit on , after attackers used a highly targeted cross-chain message spoofing attack.
Understanding the Context
According to post-incident analysis, North Korea’s Lazarus Group is the likely source. KelpDAO uses a LayerZero OFT (Omnichain Fungible Token) adapter to move rsETH across chains. The adapter is the bridge. When rsETH leaves Ethereum, it’s locked in an escrow contract on mainnet, and a matching amount is minted on the destination chain.
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Key Insights
When a cross-chain message comes back, the escrow releases. That escrow release is what got ... Attackers exploited KelpDAO’s rsETH cross-chain bridge on April 18, minting roughly 116,500 fake rsETH tokens worth approximately $290 million through a manipulated LayerZero OFT contract The fake tokens were deposited as collateral on Aave lending markets on Ethereum and Arbitrum, allowing attackers to borrow over $280 million in real WETH and ETH before liquidation Aave froze all rsETH ... Kelp DAO lost $292M in a LayerZero bridge exploit on Saturday, freezing markets across Aave, SparkLend and Fluid in 2026's biggest DeFi hack. A single victim lost $280M+ across DeFi protocols on Ethereum and Arbitrum in a targeted wallet compromise flagged by ZachXBT.
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Cryptopolitan on MSN: Justin Sun launches KelpDAO intervention as inside job rumors grow The founder of Tron, Justin Sun, has publicly appealed to the hacker behind the $293 million KelpDAO drain. According to his X tweet, Justin Sun asked the hacker to strike a deal with KelpDAO not to ... Cryptopolitan on MSN: KelpDAO hit as Tornado Cash-funded wallet steals 116,500 rsETH Invezz: AAVE price turns bullish as team moves to contain the KelpDAO exploit