Millions in Stolen Cryptocurrency Being Laundered by KelpDAO Hackers

According to on-chain analyst ZachXBT and data provided by Arkham, the perpetrators of the $290 million KelpDAO heist have initiated the process of laundering their illicitly obtained funds. Arkham's data reveals that the wallet controlling the exploit's proceeds made two significant transfers, totaling $117 million and $58 million, on the Ethereum blockchain during European hours on Tuesday. Furthermore, 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 employed similar protocols, such as 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, triggering a wave of negative sentiment throughout the DeFi sector and raising concerns about potential contagion. In response, Layer 2 network Arbitrum has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the hack, which may pressure the exploiter to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining funds.