Millions in Stolen Cryptocurrency Being Laundered by KelpDAO Hackers

According to ZachXBT, a blockchain investigator, and data from Arkham, the perpetrators of the $290 million KelpDAO heist have initiated the laundering process of their illicitly obtained funds. On Tuesday, during European business hours, the wallet controlling the exploit proceeds executed two transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, totaling $117 million and $58 million. ZachXBT noted that a portion of the stolen funds has been moved across different blockchains, with approximately $1.5 million being transferred from Ethereum to Bitcoin via Thorchain, and an additional $78,000 routed through the Umbra privacy protocol. Notably, North Korean hacking group Lazarus has previously employed similar protocols for laundering purposes. The use of cross-chain transactions and privacy tools is indicative of the initial 'layering' phase of money laundering, suggesting that the attacker may be planning to further distribute the funds across multiple platforms. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant DeFi security incidents in recent months, triggering a wave of negative sentiment and contagion fears within the DeFi sector. In response to the hack, Arbitrum, a layer 2 network, has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the breach, potentially pressuring the exploiter to expedite the laundering process for the remaining funds.