Recovery hopes fade as Kelp DAO hacker launders nearly all $220M in stolen funds
The hacker behind the $293 million Kelp DAO exploit has laundered nearly all of the stolen funds, with about $220 million moved in six weeks and only $1.7 million still traceable in the wallet, according to Arkham and onchain analysts. The attacker drained 116,500 rsETH on April 18, contributing to April’s $630 million in crypto hack losses. Laundering reportedly used a two-step route: first bridging to Bitcoin through Wasabi, then returning to Ethereum and moving funds through Tornado Cash. This reduces the odds of recovering the remaining unfrozen assets. Another $71 million was frozen by Arbitrum’s Security Council, and court proceedings continue over ownership of those funds. The exploit also accelerated DeFi security changes, with Kelp DAO and other protocols shifting from LayerZero-based setups to Chainlink CCIP after the incident.
