Millions in Stolen Cryptocurrency Being Laundered by KelpDAO Hackers

According to on-chain analyst ZachXBT and data from Arkham, the hackers responsible for the $290 million KelpDAO heist have started laundering their stolen funds. On Tuesday, during European hours, the wallet controlling the exploit proceeds made two significant transfers of $117 million and $58 million on the Ethereum blockchain. ZachXBT has reported that a portion of the stolen funds is being moved across different chains, with approximately $1.5 million being transferred from Ethereum to Bitcoin via Thorchain, and an additional $78,000 routed through the Umbra privacy protocol - a method previously used by North Korean hacking group Lazarus. The use of cross-chain routing and privacy tools suggests that the attacker is in the initial 'layering' phase of money laundering, indicating a potential plan to further distribute the funds across various platforms. The KelpDAO breach is one of the most substantial decentralized finance hacks in recent months, triggering negative sentiment and fears of contagion spreading throughout the DeFi sector. In response, Layer 2 network Arbitrum has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the hack, which may pressure the exploiter to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining funds.