According to ZachXBT, a blockchain analyst, and data from Arkham, the perpetrators of the $290 million KelpDAO heist have initiated the process of laundering their stolen 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 business hours on Tuesday. Furthermore, ZachXBT discovered that a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency has been 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 indicative of the 'layering' stage of money laundering, suggesting that the attacker is 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 widespread negative sentiment and concerns about potential contagion effects across the DeFi sector. In response to the hack, Arbitrum, a Layer 2 network, has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the incident, which may pressure the hacker to expedite the transfer and laundering of the remaining funds.