The biggest DeFi heist of 2026, hackers easily took advantage of Aave
Author: Xiao Bing, Shenchao TechFlow
On the evening of April 18 at 17:35 (UTC), a wallet that had laundered money through Tornado Cash sent a cross-chain message to the LayerZero EndpointV2 contract.
The message's meaning was simple: a user on a certain chain wanted to transfer rsETH back to the Ethereum mainnet. LayerZero faithfully conveyed the instruction according to the protocol design. The bridging contract deployed by Kelp DAO on the mainnet also executed the release faithfully as designed.
116,500 rsETH, worth approximately $292 million at the time, was transferred in a single transaction to an address controlled by the attacker.
The problem is that no one on the other chain had ever deposited this rsETH. This "cross-chain request" was fabricated out of thin air; LayerZero believed it, and Kelp's bridge believed it.
Forty-six minutes later, Kelp's emergency multi-signature finally hit the pause button. By this time, the attacker had already completed the latter half of the action, using the stolen, essentially uncollateralized rsETH to collateralize in Aave V3, borrowing approximately $236 million worth of wETH.
This is the largest DeFi theft of 2026 so far, surpassing the Drift protocol, which was attacked by North Korean hackers on April 1 by several million dollars, but what truly sends chills down the spine of the industry is not just the amount.
How the Attack Happened: Three Bets from 17:35 to 18:28
Let's restore the timeline.
17:35 UTC, the first success. The attacker called the lzReceive function on the LayerZero EndpointV2 contract, and a wallet funded by Tornado Cash sent a fabricated cross-chain data packet to Kelp's bridging contract. The contract verification passed, and 116,500 rsETH was released to the attacker's address. A single transaction. Clean.
18:21 UTC, Kelp's emergency pause multi-signature froze the core rsETH contracts on the mainnet and multiple L2s. 46 minutes after the attack occurred.
18:26 and 18:28 UTC, the attacker initiated two more attempts, each time attempting to withdraw 40,000 rsETH (approximately $10 million) with a LayerZero data packet. Both were reverted; the contract had already been frozen, but the attacker was clearly still trying to siphon off the remaining liquidity.
From the first success to Kelp's public statement, nearly three hours elapsed.
Kelp's first X post was not sent until 20:10 UTC, and the wording was very restrained: suspicious cross-chain activity involving rsETH was detected, the rsETH contracts on the mainnet and multiple L2s had been paused, and they were collaborating with LayerZero, Unichain, auditors, and external security experts for root cause analysis.
However, earlier than the official statement, ZachXBT, an on-chain detective, raised the alarm in his Telegram channel before 3 PM Eastern Time, listing six wallet addresses related to the theft and pointing out that the attack wallet had prepared funds through Tornado Cash before starting its actions. He did not name Kelp DAO, but on-chain analysts connected the addresses in just a few hours.
This was a **premeditated operation executed
You may also like

SharpLink CEO: How to understand that Ethereum developers have just surpassed 1 million?

Morning Report | MiCA grace period expires on July 1; Kalshi's trading volume in the first week of the World Cup breaks $5.1 billion, setting a record

The foundation of SpaceX's trillion-dollar valuation: Who is dividing Musk's annual capital expenditure of tens of billions?

How to exit after asset tokenization?

The stablecoin positioning battle escalates: When compliance is just a ticket to entry, will USD1 become the biggest winner?

A16Z: The sun bears witness, SpaceX is worth 7.5 trillion

Mergers and acquisitions in the cryptocurrency market are exceptionally active

Concerns Behind the Binance Customer Service Controversy

SpaceX Stock Prediction After the IPO: Can SPCX Reach $200 Before QQQ Inclusion?

Congratulations to Carl Moon on His Historic Ferrari Challenge Le Mans Podium Triumph
Crypto influencer and racing enthusiast Carl Moon finished third in the Ferrari Challenge Le Mans Coppa Shell class, marking his best result of the year. As his racing partner and sponsor, WEEX celebrates this remarkable achievement and continues to lead crypto’s journey beyond boundaries, uniting the innovation of digital assets with the passion of motorsport.

Can the CLARITY Act Become Law by July 4? Everything You Need to Know About the Final Battle

France vs Senegal World Cup 2026: Mbappe’s New Era Begins Against a Historic Rival

What is the connection between Huang Zheng of Pinduoduo and blockchain?

Morning Report | Prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket jointly sue Kentucky over 14.25% trading tax; Bridgewater founder discusses decision-making in the AI era: principled thinking should run parallel to AI, human insight remains irre...

If the AI bubble has already burst, who will truly remain?

Paul Graham: How to Make a Billion Dollars

After 18 years, blockchain has finally started to head towards the main channel

