A crypto hack update surrounding Aave and KelpDAO caused the market to move drastically. According to a recent investigation, more than $280 million was purportedly lost in a complicated mint-and-borrow transaction. It pushed AAVE price down over 10% today as ETH price also dropped due to the involvement of KelpDAO’s rsETH.
Another Crypto Hack Drains $280M From The Market
On Telegram, crypto sleuth ZachXBT revealed that KelpDAO might be facing an exploit worth more than $280 million. Based on the circulating information, the attacker had minted between $280 million and $300 million worth of rsETH, a liquid restaking token on EigenLayer.
Thereafter, the minted rsETH then collateralized on Aave V3 to borrow huge sums of ETH and WETH. The attacker then channeled these funds through Tornado Cash to cover up the trail of transactions, per on-chain tracking crypto tools.
Reports estimate that now Aave V3 can be vulnerable to almost $177 million in bad debts. The incident has casted doubt on the collateralization of the protocol and risk settings.
At this point, neither Aave nor KelpDAO has released the official statement about the incident or the actual extent of losses. The situation is alarming as, previously, the Drift Protocol faced an exploit on April 8 worth over $280 million.
AAVE Price Falls Over 10%
After the KelpDAO crypto hack update, response in the market was instant. The AAVE price nosedived 10.27% to $105.73 at the time of writing on Saturday, April 18. The chart shows that there is a steep intraday fall, which was caused by panic selling. In the meantime, Ethereum dropped by about 3% in the same time frame.
The impact on AAVE comes as KelpDAO’s rsETH is supported Aave V3 on Ethereum. According to the 2025 integration, it enabled rsETH depositors to earn more Kelp Miles and EigenLayer points. However, the latest hack has made things complex as Aave v3 faces huge bad debts now.
In a separate update today, RAVE coin is also struggling with pump-and-dump allegations.
