Kelp DAO’s $220M Vanishes: Hacker Laughs in Wasabi

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In the twilight of this digital heist, the phantom of Kelp DAO’s exploit has spirited away nearly all unfrozen treasures, leaving behind only crumbs in the original vaults-a mocking gesture to the guardians of the blockchain.

  • The Kelp DAO marauder has rinsed away $220 million through the shadowy streams of THORChain, Wasabi, Tornado Cash, and Umbra, leaving a mere $1.7M to taunt the pursuers.
  • Arbitrum’s frozen $71M stands as the last bastion of hope, now entangled in the labyrinth of courtly claims.

Ah, the dance of the thief! With a flourish, the Kelp DAO brigand has whisked away $220 million, as The Defiant’s ledger of woe attests. Through the murky waters of privacy channels, the trail grows cold, leaving investigators to clutch at shadows.

“Nearly all” is gone, they say, with but $1.7 million lingering in the original coffers-a pittance, a jest, a final bow before the curtain falls. The recovery window, once ajar, now slams shut with a resounding echo.

Kelp DAO Hacker Has Laundered Nearly All $220M in Unfrozen Funds, Closing the Recovery Window

According to The Defiant, on-chain tracking data shows that the hackers behind the Kelp DAO bridge exploit, identified as North Korean threat group TraderTraitor, have laundered…

– Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 2, 2026

The North Korean specter looms large

In April’s cruel bloom, $292 million was plucked from Kelp DAO’s garden. Chainalysis whispers of a false burn, a trick of the light, as rsETH was spirited away. Not the heart of Kelp DAO was struck, but its off-chain veins were severed.

LayerZero’s scribes point to TraderTraitor, a shadow in the Lazarus fold, a name that echoes in the halls of UNC4899. This is no lone wolf but a pack, a hydra with many heads, each dripping with the venom of past exploits.

Frozen hopes and legal tangles

Yet not all was lost in the chaos. Arbitrum’s council, swift as the wind, froze 30,000 ETH-a $71M glacier now adrift in legal seas. Families, bearing the weight of unpaid judgments against North Korea, reach for this icy prize, their claims a storm on the horizon.

The unfrozen remnants, however, have slipped through the fingers of justice, laundered with a wink and a nod through the dark arts of privacy tools. A bitter pill for those who hoped to reclaim what was stolen.

A pattern emerges, a grim tapestry

As crypto.news once lamented, Lazarus’s April spree claimed $577 million from Drift Protocol and KelpDAO-a staggering 76% of the year’s spoils. And Radiant Capital, too, fell to this shadow, its $50 million wound festering until it could bear no more, its operations now a ghostly echo.

For Kelp DAO, the laundering is but the latest act in this tragic play. The frozen ETH remains a beacon, but the unfrozen funds have vanished into the ether, their recovery a fool’s errand. Bridge operators, DeFi guardians, and sleuths alike are left to ponder: how swift must we be to outpace the shadows?

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2026-06-02 11:10