According to ZachXBT, a blockchain sleuth, 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 hours, the wallet controlling the exploit proceeds made two significant transfers of $117 million and $58 million on the Ethereum blockchain. Furthermore, ZachXBT discovered that a portion of the stolen funds has been transferred across chains, with approximately $1.5 million being bridged 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 in money laundering, suggesting that the attacker is preparing to further distribute the funds across multiple platforms.
The KelpDAO breach is one of the most substantial DeFi security breaches 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, froze $71 million in ether linked to the exploit, potentially pressuring the perpetrator to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining funds.