Millions in Stolen Cryptocurrency Being Laundered by KelpDAO Hackers

According to on-chain analyst ZachXBT and data from Arkham, the perpetrators of the $290 million KelpDAO heist have started to launder their stolen funds. On Tuesday, during European hours, the wallet controlling the exploit proceeds made two transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, totaling $117 million and $58 million. ZachXBT revealed that a portion of the stolen funds is being 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. This cross-chain movement and use of privacy tools are typical of the initial 'layering' phase of money laundering, indicating the attacker may be preparing to further distribute the funds. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant DeFi incidents in recent months, triggering negative sentiment and fears of contagion across the sector. Arbitrum, a Layer 2 network, announced on Monday that it had frozen $71 million in ether linked to the hack, potentially pressuring the attacker to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining funds.