Millions in Stolen Crypto Being Laundered by KelpDAO Hackers

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. Arkham's data reveals that the wallet controlling the exploit's proceeds made two significant transfers, totaling $117 million and $58 million, on the Ethereum blockchain during European hours on Tuesday. Furthermore, ZachXBT discovered that a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency has begun to be transferred across different blockchains, with approximately $1.5 million being bridged 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, such as Thorchain, for laundering purposes. The use of cross-chain transfers and privacy tools at this stage suggests that the attacker is likely preparing to further distribute the funds across various platforms. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant decentralized finance attacks in recent months, contributing to a wave of negative sentiment across the DeFi sector and raising concerns about potential contagion. In response to the hack, Layer 2 network Arbitrum has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the breach, which may pressure the exploiter to accelerate their efforts to move and launder the remaining funds.