Millions in Stolen Cryptocurrency Being Laundered by KelpDAO Hackers, Data Reveals

Following the KelpDAO exploit, in which $290 million was stolen, the perpetrators are now initiating the process of laundering their illicitly obtained funds, as indicated by on-chain analyst ZachXBT and data from Arkham. On Tuesday, during European hours, Arkham detected two transactions totaling $117 million and $58 million on the Ethereum blockchain, originating from the wallet controlling the exploit proceeds. According to ZachXBT, a portion of the stolen funds has started to be transferred across different chains, with approximately $1.5 million being bridged from Ethereum to Bitcoin via Thorchain, and an additional $78,000 routed through the Umbra privacy protocol - a tactic previously employed by North Korean hacking group Lazarus. The use of cross-chain transfers and privacy tools in the initial 'layering' phase of money laundering suggests that the attacker may be preparing to further distribute the funds across various platforms. As one of the most significant DeFi breaches in recent months, the KelpDAO exploit has sparked widespread negative sentiment and concerns over potential contagion across the DeFi sector. In response, Layer 2 network Arbitrum announced the freezing of $71 million in ether linked to the hack, a move that may pressure the exploiter to accelerate their efforts to move and launder the remaining funds.