Trending Now - $292M Aave Hack Leaves Users Facing $200M Debt Crisis

WHO:

NewsBTC - Aave, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, is involved in the incident.

Bitcoinist - Kelp DAO, a liquid staking protocol, is also involved in the hack.

WHAT:

NewsBTC - Aave remains the largest lender in DeFi by total value locked, despite the current crisis.

NewsBTC - Aave's utilization rate reached 100% following the exploit, complicating the ability for borrowers to repay and for users to withdraw funds.

NewsBTC - Aave's price action has been embedded in a clear downtrend since late 2025, with recent trading around the $90 level.

Bitcoinist - The Kelp DAO attacker has moved $175 million of stolen Ether in an apparent bid to start laundering it after the exploit.

NewsBTC - Aave has lost more than 23% of its value since Friday, April 17th, 2026, and the total value locked (TVL) on Aave dropped by roughly $6.6 billion as users withdrew funds.

Bitcoinist - The Kelp DAO attacker has moved $175 million of stolen Ether in an apparent bid to start laundering it after the exploit.

NewsBTC - The exploit is described as the largest DeFi hack of 2026, occurring just weeks after Drift Protocol’s $285 million exploit.

NewsBTC - Approximately $196 million of the bad debt is concentrated in the rsETH-wrapped ether pair on Ethereum.

Bitcoinist - The Kelp DAO attacker has moved $175 million of stolen Ether in an apparent bid to start laundering it after the exploit.

NewsBTC - Aave has lost more than 23% of its value since Friday, April 17th, 2026.

NewsBTC - The hack resulted in $292 million being stolen, creating approximately $200 million in bad debt on Aave.

NewsBTC - The total value locked (TVL) on Aave dropped by roughly $6.6 billion as users withdrew funds.

Bitcoinist - The incident is described as the largest DeFi hack to date.

WHERE:

NewsBTC - The exploit occurred through a bridge vulnerability related to Kelp DAO.

WHEN:

Bitcoinist - The attack took place on Saturday, April 18th, 2026.

WHY:

NewsBTC - LayerZero attributed the attack to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, claiming it was a crypto infrastructure attack rather than a protocol exploit.

NewsBTC - The attack exploited a vulnerability in Kelp's bridge rather than a flaw in Aave itself.

HOW:

NewsBTC - LayerZero explained that the attackers compromised a quorum of the RPCs the LayerZero Labs Decentralized Verifier Network relied upon to verify transactions, leading to the exploit.

NewsBTC - The $292 million exploit created a utilization rate of 100% on Aave, complicating the ability for borrowers to repay and for users to withdraw funds.

NewsBTC - Attackers exploited Kelp's bridge to obtain $292 million in stolen rsETH, which was then used as collateral on Aave V3.

NewsBTC - Aave accepted rsETH as a legitimate collateral asset, which prevented real-time rejection of the deposits.

(UPDATED April 22, 2026 03:58 UTC)

Aave remains the largest lender in decentralized finance by total value locked, even as it faces challenges following a recent exploit that pushed its utilization rate to 100%, complicating borrowers' ability to repay and users' ability to withdraw funds. Meanwhile, the Kelp DAO attacker has moved $175 million worth of stolen Ether in an apparent attempt to launder the funds, with LayerZero attributing the attack to North Korea’s Lazarus Group and describing it as a crypto infrastructure attack rather than a protocol exploit. LayerZero explained that the attackers compromised a quorum of the RPCs relied upon by the LayerZero Labs Decentralized Verifier Network to verify transactions, which ultimately led to the exploit.

(UPDATED April 22, 2026 01:23 UTC)

Aave has seen a significant drop of over 23% in its value since Friday, with around $6.6 billion pulled out by users, marking a tough week for the platform. Meanwhile, the Kelp DAO attacker has moved $175 million in stolen Ether, which is being viewed as an attempt to launder the funds following what is now considered the largest DeFi hack of 2026, just weeks after another major exploit involving Drift Protocol. LayerZero has linked this attack to North Korea's Lazarus Group, stating that it was a crypto infrastructure attack that compromised the verification network essential for transaction validation.

(UPDATED April 21, 2026 15:22 UTC)

A significant $292 million exploit has created a 100% utilization rate on Aave, making it difficult for borrowers to repay loans and for users to withdraw their funds. In the aftermath, approximately $196 million of the bad debt is concentrated in the rsETH-wrapped ether pair on Ethereum. Meanwhile, the Kelp DAO attacker has moved $175 million of stolen Ether, seemingly attempting to launder the funds following the exploit.

(UPDATED April 21, 2026 04:05 UTC)

In a significant incident in the decentralized finance space, Aave and Kelp DAO were both targeted in what is now being described as the largest DeFi hack to date, which occurred on Saturday. The attack exploited a vulnerability in Kelp's bridge, leading to the theft of $292 million in rsETH, and as a result, Aave has seen its value plummet by more than 23% since on Friday, with approximately $200 million in bad debt created and a total value locked drop of about $6.6 billion. Aave's acceptance of rsETH as collateral allowed the attackers to bypass real-time checks, contributing to the scale of the breach.