According to ZachXBT and data from Arkham, the perpetrators of the $290 million KelpDAO heist have initiated the laundering process of their illicit gains. 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 has reported 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 routing 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 in the decentralized finance sector in recent months, triggering a wave of negative sentiment and concerns about potential contagion across other blockchains. Arbitrum, a Layer 2 network, announced on Monday that it had frozen $71 million in ether linked to the hack, which may pressure the exploiter to accelerate their efforts to move and launder the remaining funds.