Day 6 of the rsETH Incident: DeFi United Secures Approximately $100 Million in Intentional Commitments, but a $50 Million Gap Remains
On April 18, Kelp DAO’s rsETH LayerZero bridge was exploited, resulting in the unauthorized minting of 116.5k rsETH (approx. $292M). The attacker borrowed around $190M on Aave V3. The Arbitrum Security Council froze 30,766 ETH linked to the incident.
DeFi United, a cross-protocol rescue initiative led by Awe, was formed to cover a total shortfall of 112.2k rsETH ($258M). As of April 24, several protocols have pledged around $100M in support, though most commitments are still under DAO voting or discussion. Key pledges include:
- Golem: 1,000 ETH ($2.3M)
- Aave founder Stani Kulechov: 5,000 ETH ($11.5M)
- EtherFi: up to 5,000 ETH ($11.5M)
- Lido: up to 2,500 stETH ($5.75M), contingent on full coverage
- Mantle: proposed a $69M loan to Aave DAO under specific terms
The remaining shortfall is estimated at $50M. Aave’s treasury and safety module (~$236M combined) can cover the worst-case bad debt scenario ($230M).
Three potential loss distribution paths were outlined by DefiLlama’s 0xngmi:
1. Uniform 18.5% haircut for all rsETH holders: Aave bad debt ~$216M
2. Only protect Mainnet, abandon L2: bad debt up to $341M
3. Repay only pre-attack holders: technically difficult, ~$91M net loss
KelpDAO has not yet announced a specific plan. The success of DeFi United depends heavily on KelpDAO’s final decision on loss allocation.
marsbit04/24 11:26
