Kelp DAO blames $292M rsETH exploit on LayerZero breach, Lazarus Group involved

Kelp DAO has blamed the $292M rsETH exploit on an infrastructure breach at LayerZero Labs. The market “Another crypto hack over $100m by December 31?” sits at 100.0% YES, with the hack attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

Market reaction

The exploit occurred on April 18 when compromised LayerZero RPC nodes and a DDoS attack forced a failover to tainted verifiers, draining funds. Kelp paused contracts within 46 minutes, preventing an additional $200M loss. LayerZero restored operations without broader protocol compromise.

The market for another $100M+ crypto hack by December 31 is at 100.0% YES. Traders treat this as definitive confirmation. The Lazarus Group’s involvement fits previous patterns of North Korean cyber operations used to fund its regime under sanctions.

Why it matters

The exploit exposed a specific weakness in LayerZero’s RPC node infrastructure, where a DDoS attack could force failover to compromised verifiers. North Korea’s confirmed involvement adds a geopolitical layer to what is already the largest DeFi exploit of the year by dollar amount. At 100% YES, a YES share offers no upside now, but holders who bought before confirmation are sitting on max payouts.

The Ethereum price markets for April 18 and April 19 remain unchanged at 100% YES. The hack’s consequences are concentrated on DeFi security rather than ETH price action directly.

What to watch

Official statements from security firms like CertiK and TRM Labs, or further attributions from blockchain analysis firms like Chainalysis or Elliptic. Any additional findings could change how traders price DeFi infrastructure risk going forward.

API access

Get prediction market intelligence as a structured API feed. Early access waitlist.