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

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 transfers, 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 funds is being moved 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. Notably, North Korean hacking group Lazarus has previously utilized protocols like Thorchain for laundering purposes. The use of cross-chain routing and privacy tools at this stage suggests that the attacker is likely preparing to further distribute the funds across multiple platforms. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant decentralized finance hacks in recent months, prompting widespread negative sentiment and concerns about potential contagion across the DeFi sector. In response to the hack, Layer 2 network Arbitrum announced on Monday that it had frozen $71 million in ether linked to the breach, a move that may pressure the exploiter to expedite the transfer and laundering of the remaining funds.