Millions in Stolen Cryptocurrency Laundered by KelpDAO Hackers

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 illicit gains. Arkham's data reveals that the controller of the exploited funds' wallet executed two transactions, valued at $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 begun to be transferred across different blockchains, 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 routing and privacy tools in the initial 'layering' phase 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 decentralized finance hacks in recent months, triggering a wave of negative sentiment across the DeFi sector and fueling concerns of potential contagion spreading to other blockchains. Furthermore, Layer 2 network Arbitrum announced on Monday that it had frozen $71 million in ether linked to the hack, a move that may pressure the exploiter to expedite the transfer and laundering of the remaining funds.