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KelpDAO Says Recovery Efforts Advance After Hackers Laundered $175 Million in ETH Into BTC

According to KelpDAO, recovery talks are progressing after hackers moved stolen funds across Ethereum, Arbitrum and into BTC and Tron-based USDT, while the Arbitrum Security Council froze part of the assets.

BTC
ETH
USDT

Fact Check
The core claim is well supported by multiple independent reports. CoinDesk's "KelpDAO hackers are laundering millions in stolen crypto, data show" says the hackers are moving $290M in stolen crypto across Ethereum and Bitcoin, specifically citing transfers of about $117M and $58M plus routing through THORChain and Umbra. crypto.news' "Kelp DAO exploit fallout deepens as attacker routes $175M in ETH via privacy rails" independently reports that 75,700 ETH worth about $175M was transferred across new wallets and references Arkham data. BlockBeats further corroborates ongoing movement by reporting a 50,700 ETH transfer to two new addresses. The main uncertainty is not whether funds are moving, but the exact amount already moved and whether the headline phrasing "$290 million ... across blockchains" means all stolen funds or the total size of the exploit. Because the directly cited primary pages from Arkham/X were not retrievable in this run, confidence is medium rather than high.
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Summary

KelpDAO said on April 23 that recovery discussions were progressing after its attackers laundered stolen assets across multiple chains and asset types. Earlier reporting described nearly $290 million tied to the rsETH exploit being routed from Ethereum through Arbitrum and into Tron-based USDT, while KelpDAO’s update said hackers laundered $175 million in ETH into BTC. The Arbitrum Security Council froze stolen funds, and SEAL 911 participated in the initial investigation. Taken together, the reports show an active laundering effort involving cross-chain transfers and cross-asset swaps that have complicated tracing and recovery, even as response efforts continue.

Terms & Concepts
  • rsETH: A crypto asset referenced in the KelpDAO exploit and tied to the stolen funds described in the reports.
  • Arbitrum Security Council: An emergency governance body tied to the Arbitrum network that can take rapid action in critical situations, including helping freeze funds linked to an exploit.
  • USDT: A U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin commonly used in crypto markets to transfer value across platforms and blockchain networks.