The Arbitrum Security Council has frozen 30,766 ETH, valued at $71.5 million, believed to be connected to the recent KelpDAO exploit. This decisive action was taken following input from law enforcement regarding the alleged exploiter's identity.
The council stated the funds are now inaccessible to the original address and can only be moved through further Arbitrum governance approval, coordinated with relevant parties. This emergency measure highlights the council's powers to freeze assets during security incidents, a move that has sparked debate on the balance between rapid response and decentralization.
The KelpDAO protocol experienced a $292 million exploit on April 18, with attackers draining a significant amount of rsETH tokens. LayerZero has attributed this hack to North Korea's Lazarus Group. Investigations reveal the attackers have begun moving and laundering funds, transferring millions from Ethereum to Bitcoin via Thorchain and other methods.