Major Crypto Heist: $292 Million Stolen from Kelp DAO, Leaving 20 Blockchains Vulnerable

A devastating hack has struck the DeFi world, with an attacker draining nearly 18% of the circulating supply of restaked ether (rsETH) from Kelp DAO's LayerZero-powered bridge. The incident, which occurred on Saturday at 17:35 UTC, saw 116,500 rsETH, valued at around $292 million, stolen from the bridge, which held the token reserve backing wrapped versions of rsETH on over 20 blockchains. The attacker exploited a vulnerability in LayerZero's cross-chain messaging layer, tricking it into releasing the funds to an attacker-controlled address. Kelp's emergency pauser multisig froze the protocol's core contracts 46 minutes later, but not before two follow-up attempts were made to drain an additional 40,000 rsETH. The aftermath of the hack has seen multiple DeFi platforms, including Aave, SparkLend, and Fluid, freeze their rsETH markets, while Lido Finance has paused further deposits into its earnETH product. The incident has raised concerns about the potential for a broader contagion, with the value of AAVE falling by around 10% as the market prices in potential bad debt. As the investigation into the hack continues, the future of rsETH and the affected DeFi platforms hangs in the balance, with the potential for further losses and instability in the market. The hack is the largest DeFi exploit of 2026, surpassing the recent attack on Solana-based perpetuals protocol Drift, which lost around $285 million.