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 initiated the laundering process of their illicitly obtained funds. On Tuesday, during European hours, the wallet controlling the exploit's proceeds made two significant transfers on the Ethereum blockchain, valued at $117 million and $58 million. Furthermore, ZachXBT discovered that a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency has been moved across different blockchains. Approximately $1.5 million was transferred from Ethereum to Bitcoin using Thorchain, while an additional $78,000 was routed through Umbra, a privacy protocol. Notably, the Lazarus Group, a hacking collective with ties to North Korea, has previously employed Thorchain for similar laundering activities. The use of cross-chain transactions and privacy tools in the early stages of laundering suggests that the attacker is preparing to further distribute the funds across multiple platforms. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant decentralized finance incidents in recent months, triggering a wave of negative sentiment and concerns about potential contagion across the DeFi sector. In response to the hack, Arbitrum, a Layer 2 network, froze $71 million in ether linked to the incident, which may pressure the exploiter to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining funds.