Crypto Morning Brief: Kelp DAO Hacked for ~$292M; Major Token Unlocks This Week for ZRO, XPL, KAITO, and More
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Crypto Morning Brief: Kelp DAO Hacked for ~$292M; Major Token Unlocks This Week for ZRO, XPL, KAITO, and More
Fu Peng has joined the Hong Kong-listed company Xinhuo Group as Chief Economist.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: TechFlow
Yesterday’s Market Updates
Trump: Vance Will Not Attend U.S.-Iran Revived Talks
According to U.S. media reports, on April 19, President Donald Trump stated in an interview, “Due to security concerns, U.S. Vice President JD Vance will not attend the renewed U.S.-Iran negotiations.” Per Trump’s statement, U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert C. O’Brien and Jared Kushner are scheduled to arrive in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, on the evening of April 20 (U.S. Eastern Time), to participate in the U.S.-Iran negotiations set for April 21.
Poll: Trump’s Approval Rating Hits New Low in Second Term; Two-Thirds of Respondents Dissatisfied with His Economic Policies and Handling of the Iran War
A recent NBC News poll shows that President Trump’s overall approval rating has dropped to a new low in his second term—only 37% of respondents expressed support, while 63% indicated disapproval, including 50% who strongly disapprove. Approximately two-thirds of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with his handling of inflation, cost-of-living pressures, and the Iran war.
The poll also found that 40% of Americans believe their personal financial situation has worsened compared to a year ago, and 61% oppose further U.S. military action against Iran. The survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey from March 30 to April 13 among 32,433 adults.
Public Consultation Period for Draft Financial Law Concludes; Cryptocurrency Legal Status and Regulatory Boundaries for Crypto Assets Largely Unaddressed
According to Caixin, the one-month public consultation period for the People’s Republic of China Financial Law (Draft) concluded today (April 19)—the first comprehensive financial law named as such in China and globally. A key market concern centers on the proposed expansion of “quasi-judicial powers” granted to financial regulators. As stipulated in Article 55 and related provisions, financial regulatory authorities would be empowered to review and copy property rights information, communication records, and transaction records of relevant entities and individuals during investigations into financial violations; directly freeze or seal assets where evidence indicates suspected transfer or concealment of illicit funds or securities; and even prohibit suspects from leaving the country during investigations.
Additionally, Zeng Gang, Chief Expert and Director of the Shanghai Financial Development Institute, noted that the Financial Law should place greater emphasis on emerging financial sectors. Issues already sparking global debate—including AI-driven financial decision-making, the legal status of digital currencies, and regulatory boundaries for crypto assets—are barely addressed in the draft. Striking a dynamic balance between lawful regulation and innovation-friendly inclusivity remains an unresolved legislative challenge.
Kelp DAO Cross-Chain Bridge Hacked; ~$292M Worth of rsETH Stolen
According to CoinDesk, Kelp DAO’s LayerZero-based cross-chain bridge was compromised. Attackers withdrew 116,500 rsETH tokens, valued at approximately $292 million at current prices—representing roughly 18% of its circulating supply. This incident has become the largest DeFi hack of 2026 to date. In response, Aave, SparkLend, and Fluid have frozen rsETH-related markets, and Lido Finance has suspended new deposits into its earnETH product.
Kelp DAO stated it is jointly investigating the incident with LayerZero, auditing firms, and external security experts.
Aave Sees $6.6B in Single-Day Outflows; USDT and USDC Borrowing Rates Surge to 15%
Marc Zeller, a core Aave contributor, announced on X that he has initiated a proposal to wind down the Aave-Chan Initiative {ACI} Frontier project. He explained that he had operated Ethereum staking nodes on behalf of Aave DAO for several years but, given current circumstances, has decided to exit all validators and transfer all ETH to Aave DAO—to potentially safeguard wETH depositors—and voluntarily forfeit all future revenue associated with this service to minimize potential impacts on users.
Zeller has long been one of the most active figures in the Aave ecosystem, having helped design incentive mechanisms via the Aave Chan Initiative. He previously announced his planned departure from Aave in July.
Curve Finance Suspends LayerZero Cross-Chain Bridging Amid rsETH Infrastructure Breach
According to an official Curve Finance announcement, due to the hacker attack on the rsETH LayerZero infrastructure, Curve Finance has suspended its LayerZero infrastructure for security reasons pending further root-cause analysis. Affected functionalities include CRV cross-chain bridging from BNB Chain, Sonic, Avalanche, Fantom, Etherlink, and Kava (chains using native bridges remain unaffected), as well as crvUSD fast bridging (L2 slow bridging remains operational). Meanwhile, KelpDAO reportedly suffered a vulnerability exploit involving approximately $291 million; the full extent of losses remains under investigation.
Sky Halts USDS Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) Bridging; Protocol and Contracts Remain Unaffected by rsETH Security Incident
Sky (formerly MakerDAO) announced on X that it has suspended cross-chain bridging for USDS Omnichain Fungible Tokens (OFTs) and will continue assessing the impact of the rsETH security incident. It emphasized that its protocol and USDS smart contracts remain unaffected, USDS continues to be fully collateralized per its design, and its collateralization ratio remains verifiable on-chain at any time.
Vercel Discloses Unauthorized Access to Internal Systems; Small Number of Customers Affected
According to an official statement, cloud hosting platform Vercel confirmed a security incident involving unauthorized access to certain internal systems. Only a small number of customers have been confirmed affected; Vercel is communicating directly with them. Vercel stated its services remain fully operational, has launched an internal investigation, engaged incident response specialists, and notified law enforcement. It advises all customers to review their environment variables and use the sensitive environment variable feature to strengthen security.
Fu Peng Joins Hong Kong-Listed Xinhuo Group as Chief Economist
According to Tencent News’ “Frontline” report, Fu Peng, former Chief Economist at Northeast Securities, has officially joined Hong Kong-listed Xinhuo Group (1611.HK) as Chief Economist—a move confirmed by Xinhuo Group. Fu Peng stated that, following his appointment, he will primarily focus on integrating FICC (Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities) with cryptocurrency businesses, conducting macroeconomic research, and delivering investment strategy analysis for institutional clients.
Xinhuo Group was formerly Huobi Technology and has since transformed into a private-banking-grade digital asset custodial service provider. Huobi’s co-founder, Li Lin, remains its sole largest shareholder, holding 29.82%. Fu Peng served as Chief Economist at Northeast Securities starting in 2020 and departed on April 30, 2025.
Rape Case at Mong Kok Hotel Dropped; Two Mainland Chinese Men Released After Over Five Months in Custody
According to Sing Tao Daily, two mainland Chinese men—Wang Bochuan (27, business consultant) and Xu Zilan (24, salesperson)—holding dual-entry permits were charged with raping a woman at the Regent Plaza Hotel (23 Tai Nan Street) in Mong Kok on November 4, 2025. Both faced a single rape charge and have been detained since mid-November 2025—over five months. The case was heard today (April 18) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, where the prosecution applied for and was granted dismissal of charges. One defendant applied for reimbursement of legal costs; the prosecution objected, citing that both defendants admitted to having sexual relations with the complainant and only provided their phone passwords to police for investigation one month after being charged. Based on further legal advice obtained thereafter, the prosecution decided to drop the charges. The judge ruled the defendants did not self-incriminate and approved the legal-costs application.
It was previously confirmed that both individuals had worked as BDs at ME (formerly MetaEra).
ZRO, XPL, KAITO, and Other Tokens Face Major Token Unlocks This Week
Data from Token Unlocks indicates major token unlocks for ZRO, XPL, KAITO, and others this week:
LayerZero (ZRO): 25.71 million tokens unlock on April 20, valued at ~$40.4 million (5.34% of total supply);
Humanity (H): 105 million tokens unlock on April 25, valued at ~$10.8 million (4.02% of circulating supply);
Plasma (XPL): 88.89 million tokens unlock on April 25, valued at ~$9.4 million (3.83% of circulating supply);
Hyperlane (HYPER): 89.75 million tokens unlock on April 22, valued at ~$8.6 million (94.37% of circulating supply);
Limitless (LMTS): 85.37 million tokens unlock on April 22, valued at ~$8.5 million (64.99% of circulating supply);
KAITO (KAITO): 17.6 million tokens unlock on April 20, valued at ~$8.1 million (4.93% of circulating supply);
Initia (INIT): 82.94 million tokens unlock on April 24, valued at ~$7.8 million (45.18% of circulating supply);
SoSoValue (SOSO): 13.33 million tokens unlock on April 24, valued at ~$5.5 million (4.35% of circulating supply);
Monad (MON): 170 million tokens unlock on April 24, valued at ~$5.5 million (0.34% of circulating supply);
aPriori (APR): 31.88 million tokens unlock on April 23, valued at ~$5.3 million (12.72% of circulating supply).
Market Data
Recommended Reading
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Netflix Co-Founder Visits the Place He Fears Most
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This article discusses Netflix co-founder and Chairman Reed Hastings’ announcement that he will not seek re-election upon the expiration of his term in June, following the company’s record-breaking Q1 2026 earnings release. Hastings expressed concerns about the rapid advancement of AI—especially its potentially disruptive impact on content production—and has joined Anthropic’s Board of Directors to focus on AI safety and long-term societal benefits.
Cloudflare Launches Multiple Products in One Week: Unified Inference Layer Integrates 70+ Models; Email Service Enables AI Agents to Send and Receive Mail
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Podcast Notes: Hyperliquid Has Become Traditional Hedge Funds’ Top Priority
https://www.techflowpost.com/zh-CN/article/31194
This deep-dive discussion focuses on Hyperliquid—the rapidly growing on-chain perpetual futures exchange—and its rising appeal to traditional financial institutions. It also explores the latest trends across DeFi, stablecoins, tokenized equities, prediction markets, and evolving regulatory developments.
2026’s Largest DeFi Heist: After Stealing $292M in rsETH, Hackers Exploit Aave V3 to Cash Out
https://www.techflowpost.com/zh-CN/article/31196
This article details the largest DeFi heist of 2026 to date: hackers forged cross-chain requests to steal $292 million worth of rsETH, then leveraged Aave V3’s lending protocol to liquidate the stolen assets. The incident exposed critical security vulnerabilities in cross-chain bridges and the broader DeFi ecosystem, highlighting risks arising from DeFi protocols’ high composability.
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