According to on-chain analyst ZachXBT and data from Arkham, the perpetrators behind the $290 million KelpDAO heist have commenced laundering their stolen funds. On Tuesday, during European hours, the wallet controlling the exploit proceeds made two significant transfers on the Ethereum blockchain, totaling $117 million and $58 million. ZachXBT revealed that a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency has already been 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 tactic previously employed by North Korean hacking group Lazarus. The use of cross-chain transfers and privacy tools in the initial 'layering' phase of money laundering suggests that the attacker is preparing to further distribute the funds across multiple platforms.
The KelpDAO breach is one of the most substantial DeFi incidents in recent months, triggering widespread negative sentiment and fears of contagion spreading to other blockchains. In response, Layer 2 network Arbitrum has frozen $71 million in ether linked to the hack, potentially pressuring the exploiter to expedite the movement and laundering of the remaining funds.