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 started to launder their stolen funds. On Tuesday, during European hours, the wallet controlling the exploit proceeds made two transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, totaling $117 million and $58 million. ZachXBT has reported that a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency is being 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 - a tactic previously employed by North Korea's Lazarus Group. The use of cross-chain routing and privacy tools in the initial 'layering' stage of money laundering suggests that the attacker is preparing to further distribute the funds across multiple platforms. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant DeFi hacks in recent months, triggering a wave of negative sentiment and fears of contagion spreading to other blockchains. Arbitrum, a Layer 2 network, announced on Monday that it had frozen $71 million in ether linked to the hack, which may pressure the exploiter to accelerate their efforts to move and launder the remaining funds.