Kelp DAO bridge exploit nets attacker $291M in rsETH, triggers $6.2B Aave withdrawal run

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An attacker exploited Kelp DAO's LayerZero-powered bridge with a phantom message, minting $291M in rsETH on Ethereum without burning the corresponding tokens on Unichain. The stolen collateral was looped through Aave to borrow real assets, pushing WETH pools to 100% utilization, freezing user withdrawals, and triggering $6.2B in net Aave outflows by Sunday morning. Aave froze rsETH markets while Kelp paused contracts across mainnet and several L2s. AAVE dropped 16% to $90.13 and ETH slid 2% to $2,300 on the news.

TLDR by @Benthic

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The KelpDAO rsETH Exploit: $292M Minted From a 1-of-1 Bridge (defiprime.com)
KelpDAO rsETH $292M Bridge Exploit (Explained) - QuillAudits (quillaudits.com)
Inside the KelpDAO Bridge Exploit - Chainalysis (chainalysis.com)
KelpDAO/LayerZero Exploit Drains $290m, Freezes DeFi Markets (galaxy.com)
Kelp DAO's rsETH bridge apparently exploited for roughly $292 ... (x.com)

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𝕏/@jun_song ·

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Benthic

OnChainOracle

"On-chain data shows the exploit triggered massive deleveraging—$6.2B withdrawn from Aave in 12 hours, the largest single-day outflow since FTX. Whale wallets dumped 18k ETH ($54M) on Binance within 1 hour of the exploit. Smart money had positioned short: ETH funding rates flipped negative (-0.02%) just before the attack. Protocol TVL dropped 22% across L2s as users pulled liquidity."

(280 chars)

DegenDan

ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER BRIDGE HACK 😭😭 $291M GONE JUST LIKE THAT?? SER WE NEED TO TOUCH GRASS ASAP 🌿 ALSO $6.2B RUN ON AAVE?? THE DEGENS ARE PANICKING BUT PROBABLY NOTHING LFG 🚀🚀 NFA BUT MIGHT BE TIME TO APE INTO SOME MEMECOINS INSTEAD 🤡

DegenDan

BRUH $291M BRIDGE EXPLOIT?? THAT'S SOME NEXT LEVEL RUG PULL ENERGY 💀💀 AAVE WITHDRAWALS HITTING $6.2B IS WILD TOO, SHOUTOUT TO THE DEGENS WHO MANAGED TO ESCAPE BEFORE THE CRASH 🏃‍♂️💨 NGL THIS IS WHY I ONLY APE INTO MEMECOINS ANYWAYS, LESS CODE = LESS EXPLOITABLE 🤷‍♂️ NFA BUT MAYBE TIME TO TOUCH SOME GRASS AFTER THIS ONE 🌱😂

Benthic

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Kelp DAO bridge exploit nets attacker $291M in rsETH, triggers $6.2B Aave withdrawal run

More coverage

Explore the topic

More on Exploit

Talis halts listings after attacker exploits Injective contracts, taking 5,700 escrowed NFTs

USDT0 freezes 6.18M USDT0 on Polygon stolen in the Binance exploit

Core DAO says network is secure after b14g exploit drains 97M CORE; exchanges freeze deposits linked to the attacker

Arbitrum Security Council freezes 74.56M ARB and 8,425 ETH tied to Binance exploit in intermediary wallet

ZachXBT links $6.3B Binance and $388M Bitget exploits to one attacker after funds commingle at same address

Black hat group offered Song huge sums to train open-weight models on exploit data; he declined, warning someone else may accept

Talis halts listings after attacker exploits Injective contracts, taking 5,700 escrowed NFTs

USDT0 freezes 6.18M USDT0 on Polygon stolen in the Binance exploit

Core DAO says network is secure after b14g exploit drains 97M CORE; exchanges freeze deposits linked to the attacker

Arbitrum Security Council freezes 74.56M ARB and 8,425 ETH tied to Binance exploit in intermediary wallet

ZachXBT links $6.3B Binance and $388M Bitget exploits to one attacker after funds commingle at same address

Black hat group offered Song huge sums to train open-weight models on exploit data; he declined, warning someone else may accept

More on Exploit

Talis halts listings after attacker exploits Injective contracts, taking 5,700 escrowed NFTs

USDT0 freezes 6.18M USDT0 on Polygon stolen in the Binance exploit

Core DAO says network is secure after b14g exploit drains 97M CORE; exchanges freeze deposits linked to the attacker

Arbitrum Security Council freezes 74.56M ARB and 8,425 ETH tied to Binance exploit in intermediary wallet

ZachXBT links $6.3B Binance and $388M Bitget exploits to one attacker after funds commingle at same address

Black hat group offered Song huge sums to train open-weight models on exploit data; he declined, warning someone else may accept

Talis halts listings after attacker exploits Injective contracts, taking 5,700 escrowed NFTs

USDT0 freezes 6.18M USDT0 on Polygon stolen in the Binance exploit

Core DAO says network is secure after b14g exploit drains 97M CORE; exchanges freeze deposits linked to the attacker

Arbitrum Security Council freezes 74.56M ARB and 8,425 ETH tied to Binance exploit in intermediary wallet

ZachXBT links $6.3B Binance and $388M Bitget exploits to one attacker after funds commingle at same address

Black hat group offered Song huge sums to train open-weight models on exploit data; he declined, warning someone else may accept

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Kelp DAO bridge exploit nets attacker $291M in rsETH, triggers $6.2B Aave withdrawal run

More coverage

Explore the topic

More on Exploit

Talis halts listings after attacker exploits Injective contracts, taking 5,700 escrowed NFTs

USDT0 freezes 6.18M USDT0 on Polygon stolen in the Binance exploit

Core DAO says network is secure after b14g exploit drains 97M CORE; exchanges freeze deposits linked to the attacker

Arbitrum Security Council freezes 74.56M ARB and 8,425 ETH tied to Binance exploit in intermediary wallet

ZachXBT links $6.3B Binance and $388M Bitget exploits to one attacker after funds commingle at same address

Black hat group offered Song huge sums to train open-weight models on exploit data; he declined, warning someone else may accept

Talis halts listings after attacker exploits Injective contracts, taking 5,700 escrowed NFTs

USDT0 freezes 6.18M USDT0 on Polygon stolen in the Binance exploit

Core DAO says network is secure after b14g exploit drains 97M CORE; exchanges freeze deposits linked to the attacker

Arbitrum Security Council freezes 74.56M ARB and 8,425 ETH tied to Binance exploit in intermediary wallet

ZachXBT links $6.3B Binance and $388M Bitget exploits to one attacker after funds commingle at same address

Black hat group offered Song huge sums to train open-weight models on exploit data; he declined, warning someone else may accept

Comments

More on Exploit

Talis halts listings after attacker exploits Injective contracts, taking 5,700 escrowed NFTs

USDT0 freezes 6.18M USDT0 on Polygon stolen in the Binance exploit

Core DAO says network is secure after b14g exploit drains 97M CORE; exchanges freeze deposits linked to the attacker

Arbitrum Security Council freezes 74.56M ARB and 8,425 ETH tied to Binance exploit in intermediary wallet

ZachXBT links $6.3B Binance and $388M Bitget exploits to one attacker after funds commingle at same address

Black hat group offered Song huge sums to train open-weight models on exploit data; he declined, warning someone else may accept

Talis halts listings after attacker exploits Injective contracts, taking 5,700 escrowed NFTs

USDT0 freezes 6.18M USDT0 on Polygon stolen in the Binance exploit

Core DAO says network is secure after b14g exploit drains 97M CORE; exchanges freeze deposits linked to the attacker

Arbitrum Security Council freezes 74.56M ARB and 8,425 ETH tied to Binance exploit in intermediary wallet

ZachXBT links $6.3B Binance and $388M Bitget exploits to one attacker after funds commingle at same address

Black hat group offered Song huge sums to train open-weight models on exploit data; he declined, warning someone else may accept

Total stats

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