According to on-chain analyst ZachXBT 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. ZachXBT has reported that a subset of the stolen funds is being moved across different chains, with roughly $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 protocols like Thorchain for laundering purposes.
The use of cross-chain routing and privacy tools at this stage suggests that the attacker is likely preparing to further disperse the funds across multiple platforms. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant decentralized finance incidents in recent months, triggering widespread negative sentiment and fears of contagion spreading to other blockchains. In response to the hack, Layer 2 network Arbitrum announced the freezing of $71 million in ether linked to the breach, a move that may pressure the exploiter to accelerate their efforts to move and launder the remaining funds.