Major Crypto Heist: $292 Million Stolen from Kelp DAO, Leaving 20 Blockchains Exposed

A devastating cyber attack has drained nearly 18% of the circulating supply of restaked ether tokens from Kelp DAO's LayerZero-powered bridge, sparking a wave of panic across the DeFi ecosystem. The breach, which occurred on Saturday at 17:35 UTC, saw 116,500 rsETH siphoned off to an attacker-controlled address, valued at around $292 million at current market prices. This significant loss has triggered a chain reaction, with several major DeFi platforms, including Aave, SparkLend, and Fluid, hastily freezing their rsETH markets to mitigate potential damage. The attack has also led to a sharp decline in the value of AAVE, with the token plummeting by approximately 10% as investors factor in potential bad debt. As the situation continues to unfold, Kelp DAO is working closely with LayerZero, Unichain, and external security experts to investigate the incident and recover the stolen funds. The aftermath of this exploit is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the DeFi space, particularly in light of recent high-profile hacks, including the $285 million heist from Solana-based perpetuals protocol Drift on April 1.