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 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 discovered that a portion of the stolen funds has started to be moved across different blockchains, 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, the North Korean hacking group Lazarus has previously utilized protocols like Thorchain for laundering purposes.
The use of cross-chain routing and privacy tools in the early stages of laundering suggests that the attacker may be preparing to further disperse the funds across multiple platforms. As one of the largest DeFi breaches in recent months, the KelpDAO exploit has sparked widespread negative sentiment and fears of contagion spreading to other blockchains.
In response, the layer 2 network Arbitrum has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the hack, potentially pressuring the exploiter to accelerate their efforts to move and launder the remaining funds.