Millions in Stolen Cryptocurrency Being Laundered by KelpDAO Hackers

According to data from Arkham and on-chain analyst ZachXBT, the perpetrators of the $290 million KelpDAO heist have initiated the process of laundering their stolen funds. On Tuesday, the wallet controlling the exploited funds made two transactions worth $117 million and $58 million on the Ethereum blockchain. ZachXBT noted that a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency 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. This cross-chain movement and use of privacy tools are indicative of the 'layering' stage of money laundering, suggesting that the attacker is preparing to further distribute the funds. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant DeFi security incidents in recent months, contributing to a wave of negative sentiment and fears of contagion within the DeFi sector. In response to the hack, Arbitrum, a layer 2 network, has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the exploit, potentially pressuring the hacker to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining funds.