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KelpDAO hacker moves $175M in stolen funds, marking the start of the laundering phase after the rsETH exploit.
Author: Arushi Garg
21 April, 2026: The KelpDAO hacker has begun moving $175.41 million in stolen funds to a series of new Ethereum addresses, according to on-chain analytics platform Arkham.This large transfer occurred just hours after Arbitrum’s Security Council froze approximately 30,766 ETH (~$71 million) tied to the original $292 million exploit.The movement signals that the attacker is now entering the laundering phase to obscure and potentially cash out the stolen assets.
High Signal Summary For A Quick Glance
Macro Bombastic
@MacroBombastic
@coinbureau bro thinks they're smart with their "laundering phase incoming" but chain analytics will catch up to them
BREAKING: KELPDAO HACKER ON THE MOVE Arkham has flagged the KelpDAO attacker moving $175.41M to new Ethereum addresses. The move comes just hours after Arbitrum's Security Council froze 30,766 ETH (~$71M) tied to the $292M exploit. Laundering phase incoming? https://t.co/nRsUGETu6t
08:42 AM·Apr 21, 2026
Zumbakafeo (Satire)
@realzumbakafeo
@coinbureau Watched the DAO Maker hack unfold the same way in 2021. Attacker always moves funds right after partial freezes to test which paths are still open. The real race starts now between chain analytics and mixers. Most gets recovered only if bridges act fast.
BREAKING: KELPDAO HACKER ON THE MOVE Arkham has flagged the KelpDAO attacker moving $175.41M to new Ethereum addresses. The move comes just hours after Arbitrum's Security Council froze 30,766 ETH (~$71M) tied to the $292M exploit. Laundering phase incoming? https://t.co/nRsUGETu6t
08:39 AM·Apr 21, 2026
Jacky Goh | Rewards Bunny
@JackyGohSG
@coinbureau Every exploit hits twice, funds onchain, trust offchain.
BREAKING: KELPDAO HACKER ON THE MOVE Arkham has flagged the KelpDAO attacker moving $175.41M to new Ethereum addresses. The move comes just hours after Arbitrum's Security Council froze 30,766 ETH (~$71M) tied to the $292M exploit. Laundering phase incoming? https://t.co/nRsUGETu6t
08:35 AM·Apr 21, 2026
High attention and emotional sentiment detected.
KelpDAO, a major liquid restaking protocol on Arbitrum, suffered one of the largest DeFi exploits of 2026, losing approximately $292 million. The attack, widely attributed to a sophisticated actor (possibly North Korean-linked), exploited a vulnerability in the protocol’s smart contracts. In response, Arbitrum’s Security Council took the rare step of freezing 30,766 ETH (~$71 million) tied to the stolen funds to prevent further movement.
Just hours after the freeze, on-chain analytics firm Arkham has flagged the attacker moving $175.41 million in stolen assets to a series of new Ethereum addresses. This large transfer signals the attacker is actively attempting to launder and obscure the funds, likely preparing to bridge, swap, or mix them across multiple chains. The remaining unrecovered funds are now the focus of intense on-chain tracking by investigators and security teams.
Timeline: KelpDAO hack, emergency intervention, and ongoing fund movements
KelpDAO suffers a major hack resulting in approximately $292 million stolen from the protocol.
Arbitrum’s Security Council takes emergency action and freezes 30,766 ETH (around $71 million) linked to the attacker.
The attacker starts transferring $175.41 million in stolen assets to multiple new Ethereum addresses, signaling the start of the laundering phase.
The attacker is using sophisticated wallet-splitting tactics, distributing the $175.41 million across multiple fresh Ethereum addresses in rapid succession. This is a deliberate “peeling” strategy designed to make real-time tracking more difficult for analysts and law enforcement.
Although Arbitrum froze $71 million, the majority of the stolen assets remain fully under the hacker’s control. KelpDAO has not yet provided a detailed recovery plan for rsETH holders, and the incident is already prompting other liquid restaking protocols to accelerate security reviews of their own DVN configurations and smart contract permissions.
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