Millions in Stolen Cryptocurrency Being Laundered by KelpDAO Hackers

An investigation into the KelpDAO hack, which resulted in the theft of $290 million, reveals that the perpetrators are now attempting to launder their stolen funds, according to ZachXBT, a blockchain sleuth, and data provided by Arkham. On Tuesday, during European hours, the wallet controlling the stolen funds made two significant transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, totaling $117 million and $58 million. Furthermore, ZachXBT discovered that a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency has been 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. This cross-chain movement and use of privacy tools are characteristic of the initial 'layering' phase of money laundering, suggesting that the attacker is preparing to disperse the funds further. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant incidents in the decentralized finance sector in recent months, prompting widespread negative sentiment and fears of potential contagion. In response to the hack, Arbitrum, a layer 2 network, has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the incident, potentially forcing the hacker to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining stolen funds.