Ethereum liquid staking protocol Kelp DAO announced its restaked Ether token (rsETH) is fully restored after a five-week recovery following a $293 million exploit by North Korea's Lazarus Group on April 18.
Kelp DAO posted on X Monday that the final tranche of 20,373.7 rsETH was sent to the LayerZero smart contract managing cross-chain transfers. "This closes the operational part of the rsETH recovery plan," Kelp said. Several crypto protocols contributed funds under the DeFi United initiative to restore backing.
The April hack sent shockwaves through crypto lending markets, disrupting billions in liquidity and reigniting concerns about DeFi interconnectedness. Aave was hit hardest: the attacker used stolen rsETH as collateral to borrow wrapped Ether, leaving $190 million in bad debt and triggering massive withdrawals.
First tranche of 25,000 rsETH was transferred May 13, reopening bridging between Ethereum mainnet and layer 2 networks. Withdrawals reopened the next day; minting, redemptions, and rewards are now running normally.
The hack was one of 25 crypto hacks in April totaling $630 million in losses-the worst month since February 2025's record $1.5 billion Bybit hack.
Aave's TVL fell from $26.4 billion to below $14 billion, losing its top DeFi spot. Net outflows have eased but TVL remains stagnant between $13.9 billion and $15.1 billion.
