Millions in Stolen Cryptocurrency Being Laundered by KelpDAO Hackers

Following the $290 million KelpDAO heist, the perpetrators are now attempting to legitimize their illicit gains, as indicated by on-chain analyst ZachXBT and data provided by Arkham. According to Arkham, the wallet controlling the stolen funds made two substantial transfers, totaling $117 million and $58 million, on the Ethereum blockchain during European business hours on Tuesday. ZachXBT has revealed that a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency is being moved across different blockchains. Approximately $1.5 million was transferred from Ethereum to Bitcoin using Thorchain, while an additional $78,000 was routed through the Umbra privacy protocol. Notably, North Korean hacking group Lazarus has previously utilized Thorchain for similar money laundering purposes. The use of cross-chain transfers and privacy tools is characteristic of the initial 'layering' phase in money laundering, suggesting that the attacker is likely preparing to further distribute the funds across multiple platforms. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant DeFi security incidents in recent months, triggering widespread negative sentiment and fears of potential contagion across the DeFi sector. In response to the hack, Layer 2 network Arbitrum announced the freezing of $71 million in ether linked to the incident, potentially pressuring the hacker to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining stolen funds.