Following the $290 million KelpDAO exploit, the perpetrators are now attempting to launder their stolen funds, as revealed by onchain analyst ZachXBT and data from Arkham. On Tuesday, the wallet controlling the exploit proceeds made two Ethereum blockchain transfers, totaling $117 million and $58 million.
According to ZachXBT, a portion of the stolen funds has been moved across chains, with approximately $1.5 million bridged from Ethereum to Bitcoin via Thorchain and an additional $78,000 routed through Umbra, a privacy protocol. This cross-chain movement and use of privacy tools are indicative of the initial 'layering' phase of money laundering, suggesting the attacker is preparing to further distribute the funds.
The KelpDAO breach is one of the most significant DeFi incidents in recent months, triggering a wave of negative sentiment and contagion fears within the sector. In response to the hack, Layer 2 network Arbitrum has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the breach, potentially pressuring the exploiter to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining funds.