Massive Crypto Heist: $292 Million Stolen from Kelp DAO, Leaving 20 Blockchains Exposed

A devastating breach has struck a prominent cross-chain bridge, resulting in the theft of nearly 18% of the circulating supply of restaked ether tokens, valued at around $292 million. The attack, which occurred on Saturday, exploited a vulnerability in LayerZero's cross-chain messaging layer, allowing the hacker to trick the system into releasing 116,500 rsETH to a malicious address. The fallout is being felt across the DeFi ecosystem, with numerous platforms, including Aave, SparkLend, and Fluid, freezing their rsETH markets in response to the incident. The breach has significant implications for the stability of the DeFi market, particularly given the widespread deployment of rsETH across over 20 blockchain networks. As the situation continues to unfold, the affected platforms are scrambling to contain the damage and prevent further losses. The hack is the latest in a series of high-profile exploits to hit the DeFi space in recent weeks, including the $285 million heist targeting Solana-based perpetuals protocol Drift. With the Kelp DAO incident now ranking as the largest DeFi exploit of 2026, the industry is on high alert, and investors are bracing for potential further disruptions.