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 indicates that the wallet controlling the exploit's proceeds made two significant transactions, totaling $117 million and $58 million, on the Ethereum blockchain during European hours on Tuesday.
ZachXBT has reported that a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency has already started moving across different chains, with approximately $1.5 million being transferred from Ethereum to Bitcoin via Thorchain, and an additional $78,000 routed through the Umbra privacy protocol. The use of cross-chain routing and privacy tools, similar to those previously employed by North Korean hacking group Lazarus, suggests that the attacker is likely in the initial 'layering' phase of money laundering, implying plans to further disperse the funds across multiple platforms. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant DeFi incidents in recent months, triggering a wave of negative sentiment and contagion fears throughout the DeFi sector. In response to the hack, Layer 2 network Arbitrum has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the incident, potentially pressuring the exploiter to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining funds.